The Next Stage
by Le Duele La Cabeza
Summary: Naruto has a team of his own now, but they are anything but what he and his team had been like. Leading a team like them has advantages and disadvantages. This is no longer Naruto's story, but that of his students'.
1. Prologue

**Hello hello, I'm Le Duele La Cabeza, and no, I'm not Hispanic! I'm perfectly ginger in every way! Ain't that great?**

**Well you don't have to like gingers to like this story, (well you do... cause we're just so lovable!) you just have to like the idea of Naruto teaching his own genin team!**

**Disclaimer: this is the only one I'll do so yeah. LE DUELE LA CABEZA DOES NOT OWN NARUTO, NEVER WILL OWN NARUTO, AND ONLY OWNS HER CHARACTERS THAT SPROUTED UP IN THE CONFINES OF HER GINGER MIND.  
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**So, this is the prologue, and imagine that there is chapter art... oooh. Chapter art is, adult Naruto sitting with an ANBU mask on the right side of his head as he grins his foxy grin. In the background is Kakashi with his back to us wearing the Hokage shroud.

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Naruto has been through each stage of being a ninja, a student, a genin (for a long while), a chuunin (after taking it twice), a jonin, and for a while, an ANBU. He'd gone through those stages religiously, in hopes of becoming the Hokage one day, having his face up there with Granny Tsunade's, Old Man Third, his father's, and now even Kakashi-Sensei's. His dream was so close to being fulfilled, he could practically taste it.

The only thing Naruto hadn't done yet was lead a new team of genin, and he was pretty sure that was what Kakashi-Sensei called him and the others in to do. He, along with Kiba, Shikamaru, Ino, Shino, and Lee, were standing before the rokudaime waiting for information on their new teams. There were other jonin there too, just none Naruto would consider his friend like the other five what with them being part of the Konoha Eleven.

Kakashi stared at the ten jonin before him, the lower have of his face hidden behind his anbu mask. His visible eye appeared to be reading an worn orange book, though he was actually watching the ten jonin before him. He appraised his choices for team leaders, his vision stopping at the center of the pack, on Naruto Uzumaki. Closing his book, Kakashi stood, the jonin stood up a little straighter in response, waiting for instructions.

"As you ten know, you have been chosen to become possible team leaders to this year's new genin graduates. A few of you know which have graduated this year and have expressed interest in leading certain genin. Hinata-san and Chouji-san have compiled the teams into who would help each other most, your teams are as followed," Kakashi said as he lifted the files. He picked up the first three folders, and tossed them to Lee.

"Team one: Rock Lee, genin: Mizushima Hana, Sarutobi Taka, and Hyuuga Michiru."

"Hai! Rokudaime-sama! I will teach them in the ways of the flames of youth!" Lee said, saluting Kakashi after catching the files. Kakashi arched an unseen eyebrow at the zealous jonin that looked so much like Guy, hopefully none of his genin would take on the green spandex as well. Kakashi picked up the next three files, tossing them to Ino.

"Team two: Yamanaka Ino, genin: Shiranui Aoi, Kamizuki Eri, and Hagane Sho."

"Hai!" Ino said, catching her files before they fell to the floor. Kakashi repeated the process of throwing the teams three files as he stated the genin's names.

"Team three: Hayate Tatsuka, genin: Nakara Shosuke, Kuromaki Rinji, and Reo Kanon."

"Hai."

"Team four: Ebisu Shima, genin: Tsuki Sanji, Hoenmaru Riku, and Aburame Yuzuya."

"Hai, Rokudaime-sama!"

"Team five: Inuzuka Kiba, genin: Katakura Kisa, Kai Kazu, and Kurosaki Kippei."

Kiba arched a furry eyebrow at his genin, there was a slight pattern in names. "Hai," he said, catching the files. Akamaru beside him barked his affirmation as well.

"Team six: Kanden Kosuke, genin: Asakura Usui, Sakura Mira, and Fuji Hirota."

"Hai!"

"Team seven: Uzumaki Naruto, genin: Uzuki Mitsuki, Hatake Obito, Yamashiro Haru."

Naruto grinned as he caught the files, he got his sensei's kid. He'd seen the kid around town, same spiky silvery hair as his dad. Though thankfully, as noted by Hinata, he had a tendency for being on time rather than several hours later. "Hai!" he declared, grinning his infamous grin.

"Team eight: Aburame Shino, genin: Namiashi Karin, Morino Gen, Ebisu Hikaru."

Shino nodded once, catching his files easily before returning to his ever stoic position.

"Team nine: Saiga Hatsuki, genin: Toriichi Koga, Hanamataro Kanata, Yoshino Kikyo."

"Hai!"

"Team ten: Nara Shikamaru, genin: Yuhi Asuka, Aiba Shinji, Shirota Tatsuki."

Shikamaru breathed an unnoticeable sigh of relief. He was able to keep his promise to Kurenai, he was assigned to teach Asuka, Asuma's daughter. She was still young, only nine, but she had begged both her mother and Shikamaru to let her take the graduation exam. With her giant brown eyes, Shikamaru couldn't really say no to her. He knew she was good, he trained her himself, and Shikamaru made her swear that if she passed, she wouldn't rely on her teammates to do things. Asuka had looked offended at that, and threatened to smack Shikamaru upside the head.

"Hai, Rokudaime-sama," he said, catching the files.

"You meet your teams tomorrow, I suggest you study up on them, make sure their prepared to pass the next portion. Now, dismissed," Kakashi said, smiling. All ten jounin called in unison "Hai!" before leaving the Hokage to his perverted book.

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**So how was that for a prologue? Naruto's team gets introduced next, and I quite like them already : D.**

**LOVE YOU LOVEBUCKETS!  
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	2. The New Seven

**HELLO! Didn't expect me back so soon didja? Weeeell neither did I. **

**I just had this huge urge to write more, so I did. **

**I feel like this is a decent length, my chapters will probably only get longer.**

**Does anyone have any objections to that who aren't a part of my roleplay forum?**

**No?**

**Good. Now on with the story.**

**Chapter art is... Mitsuki wielding an old looking sword with the background of a crescent moon.

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A young girl lay on the third row of desks. It was just after dawn and she was the only one in the classroom. Her arm was thrown over her face, the crook of her elbow pressed over her eyes, as she waited for her day to start.

The girl had short purple hair, barely seen beneath the forehead protector she wore as a black bandana, pulled into low pigtails held by small ponytail holders with crescent shaped little figures on them. Her bangs were concealed by her arm, which also concealed her dark black eyes. She was hiding away from her mother, an overprotective woman who didn't want her to become a kunoichi even though from what she'd heard, her mother had been in the ANBU (she heard from rumors) and her dad had been a tokubetsu jonin before he died. The girl hated her father for leaving her with her overprotective mother.

The girl wore simple ninja clothes, a black tank top that ended just below her belly button, a mesh long sleeved shirt beneath that, her slightly above knee length white shorts with bandages going up her left leg, her sandals were black, and the only color about this girl seemed to be her purple hair, which she tried to cover up. She had a black holster on her right leg, which stood out against the white fabric of her shorts.

She was an odd girl, a quiet girl, and she just wanted the day to start soon so that she could find out her team already. The door opened quietly, signaling that she was not alone anymore.

"Mitsuki-chan?" a voice said, familiar to the girl. Mitsuki removed her arm from her face, turning her head towards the new voice.

"Haru? What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice, though nearly blank, held an edge of curiosity to it. The boy blushed a slight bit, looking back at the door he just walked through. He was somewhat of a friend to Mitsuki, having helped her with her studying. While Mitsuki was decent with the practice, she was pretty terrible at the written portion Hinata-Sensei made the class do about twice a month.

"I always get to school at this time," he said. He ran a pale hand through his dark brown hair, it was almost black it was so dark. Haru was always an early riser, and he usually got to school early, but this was the first time he'd seen Mitsuki here this early. She was usually late. Mitsuki sat up, snorting slightly in amusement.

"Hoping to catch the worm Mr. Early Bird?" she teased. Her purple bangs fell into her eye, and she pushed at back behind her ear. Haru knew that in two minutes or so it would just fall again, Mitsuki just hated the way her hair looked when it was entirely pulled back.

"Something like that. What about you? You're never early," Haru said. He sat in his usual seat in the row behind his friend, his dark blue eyes meeting her obsidian ones. Mitsuki shrugged once before going back to laying on the table.

"Couldn't sleep. My mom was mad at me last night because I actually passed the exam, I actually got worried that she might prevent me from coming," she said, closing her eyes and folding her arms beneath head. Haru smiled a bit.

"She wouldn't do that."

"Wanna bet? So, who do you think is gonna pair up? You're a pretty smart guy, I'm sure you planned this out. Who would get paired with who, what teams would be the best," Mitsuki asked. She folding her right leg over her left, twitching her foot in boredom. The day needed to start soon or she'd get a bit antsy.

Haru was silent for a while, and Mistuki smirked. Bingo.

"So what if I did?" he asked, embarrassment coloring his voice. Mitsuki only smirked wider.

"Nothing, nothing. I was just wondering who you had me paired with. Who are my two boys?" she asked. She opened one black eye to look up at Haru. She knew the boy was logical and could calculate anything with ease. He was brilliant. His practice wasn't that good, but as long as he helped her with the mental, Mitsuki would help him with the physical.

Haru's face a flushed pink in color, and he looked down at his hand, linking and unlinking his fingers.

"Well, uh, actually… I thought that you and I would make a good team, along with Obito-kun too," Haru said, not meeting Mitsuki's eyes… er, eye. At that, Mitsuki opened both eyes to stare at her friend. It wasn't the "her and Haru" thing that got her interest. It was the Obito bit. Hatake Obito, son of the Gokudaime. Haru thought that he'd be a good member of their team? Mr. Perfect? Mr. Can Do No Wrong? He was literally the golden boy of the village. He was smart, good at all three types of fighting, helpful, and unlike his father, he had no mask to cover his gorgeous face.

"Hatake? Really?" she queried. Haru nodded. Mitsuki 'hm'ed a bit before closing her eyes again. Haru looked at the girl for a short while, before turning his attention out the window. The sun glinted off his forehead protector, which was worn in a style similar to his dad's. slightly slanted over his forehead, but not covering either of his eyes. Though unlike his father, instead of a blue band, he had a black one, same as the color of Mitsuki's bandana.

Haru's ninja outfit consited of a short sleeve white shirt with a hood, and a long sleeved black shirt beneath that hiding his mesh. He had on brown shorts that went just past his knee, and black sandals. The only "accessories" he had other than his forehead protector were a pair of black sunglasses hooked onto the collar of his shirt, and the three pen's he always had sticking out of his pocket on his right pants leg. His holster was on the back of his left leg, were he could reach it easiest.

They stayed in silence for a short while, it wouldn't be long until the other genin arrived and they'd be sorted into their teams. And it was only when other people arrived that Mitsuki actually got off the table, sitting in her normal spot as a dark haired boy with pale white eyes sat beside her.

"Miki," the boy said.

"Michi," she replied back, leaning her face into her left palm. Where were Hinata-Sensei and Chouji-Sensei? She wanted to get this over with.

"You're early."

"How observant of you."

"How sarcastic of you."

"You're a pain in the ass, you know that?"

"You mentioned that a few times."

"Just thought I'd remind you."

"Lovely."

The two of them did this little back and forth bit every morning, pretending they couldn't stand each other. When in reality, the two had been close friends since they were young having bonded over being the only ones who wanted to play on the merry go round instead of the swings. They had taken turns pushing each other around on the playground equipment.

"Look, it's little Asuka-tan, lookit that, how adowable. Her forehead pwotector won't even fit on her wittle head so she tied it around her neck," Michiru said in a faux-baby voice as the youngest, and smallest, graduate of the class came in and took her regular seat at the front and center. Mitsuki smirked a slight bit as she leaned her head down on her arms. She was growing tired, and she wanted to see if Haru was right about teams or not.

"Haha, she may be early, but it appears to be that Mitsuki-chan has only spent the night at the school," said a voice on the other side of Mistuki. Said purple-haired girl turned her head to glare at a raven-haired boy wearing a jovial expression.

"Shut up dumbass," Mitsuki said, using her had to hit at the boy beside her. Unlike with Michiru, Mitsuki and this boy did not appear to have as good a relationship.

"You wound me Mitsuki. You cut me deep," he said, dramatically holding a hand to his chest.

"And yet you keep coming back. Tell me Tatsuki, are you a masochist? Because you keep coming back to me for more verbal abuse," Mitsuki said, nuzzling her face into her arms. Tatsuki wrinkled his nose, flipping his black bangs out of his eyes.

"Masochist? Nah, I've just grown too used to your verbal barbs," he said. Tatsuki leaned back in his seat, propping his feet up on the desk. Mitsuki rolled her eyes before turning back to Michiru, only to find her friend having a heated argument with one Mizushima Hana. The red head was trying to explain to him that he should not have been there, having cheated on the exam.

"I didn't cheat Hana, I'm a Hyuuga, cheating is for lesser people, like Mitsuki and Tatsuki," Michiru said, using a hand to motion towards the two genin.

"Oi," Mitsuki interjected, "I did no such thing! I studied my butt off for the written portion. Ask Haru, he's a-a-a whaddya call 'em, a witness!" Michiru looked at his friend briefly, eyebrows raised in a "I don't care" fashion, before returning to Hana.

"Fine then, like Tatsuki. I'm surprised he passed," Michiru said. Mitsuki looked over at the boy in question, who has appeared to have fallen asleep. Drool was making it's way down his shirt… _gross!_

The class went on like that, hacing their own conversations, doing whatever they wanted to bide their time. And it was only once Obito walked in that the two teachers made their appearance. Obito took his usual seat in front of Mitsuki as Chouji-Sensei began speaking.

"Starting today all of you are real ninja. But you guys are still at the bottom of the heap, still rookies, only genin," Chouji-Sensei said. He watched as some student's face fell, while other's grew cocky, there were very few genin in the room that kept their face blank.

"You'll be assigned to do whatever Konoha asks of you, and you will complete your tasks in squads of three led by a jonin sensei," Hinata-Sensei said.

"You guys will follow your sensei's instructions as they teach and guide you throughout your missions. Now we've tried to divide you up into equal three man squads based on your abilities," Chouji-sensei explained as Hinata pulled a clipboard from behind his back.

Obito sat there waiting for his name to be called. See what team he'd be put with, if they'd be in a level that wouldn't drag him down. He didn't want to be stuck dragging his team around. His silver hair stuck up in spikes that refused to lay flat no matter what his mother attempted to do. His face was blank, a mask of its own without actually hiding his physical features. He didn't know how his dad could survive wearing that mask all the time, it had to inhibit his breathing somewhat.

Including not have the mask, Obito tried to not dress like his father as much as possible. He wore a black sleeveless body shirt under a mesh shirt, black shorts, and black sandals, his forehead protector was black, and turned so that the symbol of the village was facing the right. He was dressed all in black, and didn't seem all depressive about it.

"Team Seven: Yamashiro Haru, Uzuki Mitsuki, and Hatake Obito," Hinata called out. Obito stayed in a stoic position, listening as Haru murmur a small "just as I thought" before letting out a yelp of pain, followed closely by a "shut up Haru.".

Obito closed his eyes, exhaling through his nose. Well, at least he didn't get Tatsuki or Eri….

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**So... that's chapter two.**

**It's not as great as it could have been, but I feel it's a good introduction to the main characters.**

**I'm writing more as I type... I'm that talented lol.**

**LOVE YOU LOVEBUCKETS!  
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	3. Meeting Uzumaki Naruto

**HELLO HELLO! Didja miss me? Cause I missed me! I was lost for three days in the woods!**

**What's that you say? This story was put out only two days ago? My excuse has holes in it?**

**OH! YOU GUYS CAN BE CRUEL!**

**I didn't get any reviews last time, I'm going to take that as a sign that I need to either start with the action or my story is just too lame to read.**

**I apologize for my worthlessness. Maybe this chapter will help me redeem myself to you wonderful readers!**

**Chapter Art: Obito, Haru, and Mitsuki playing rock, paper, scissors, Obito with rock, Haru with paper, and Mitsuki with the scissors. All three are looking up, and wearing all black.**

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Lunch was uneventful, Obito, Haru, and Mitsuki spent it sitting on a roof getting to know each other, which actually just ended up with Mitsuki and Obito arguing about ninja techniques, leaving Haru to try and break it up. He only really succeeded in stopping Mitsuki from tackling the silver-haired genin. The trio were now sitting in the classroom with team ten, which held Tatsuki, Asuka, and Shinji. Neither teams' jonins had arrived yet, so it left the six kids sitting in a circle playing cards.

Well… It left four kids playing cards and Mitsuki and Tatsuki bickering about who won the last round. Unknown to the young ninja, two jonin were outside the door, listening to every word they said.

"Shut the hell up Tatsuki! I did not cheat!" Mitsuki said, glaring heavily at the raven haired boy. The boy glared back just as heavily. The other four ignored the duo, too used to their heated arguments to really care. They only intervened once kunai or shuriken got involved, but that rarely ever happened.

"You did so! You've been hiding that Ace in your shorts since the beginning of the game! You do it every time!" Tatsuki said back. Their cards had been thrown on the floor in annoyance, but were quickly cleaned up by the young Asuka, who had seated herself between Obito and Shinji, so that the others could continue their game.

"I did no such thing! If I'd been hiding the Ace, then why was it the first card down?"

"I don't know, but you're a cheat!" Tatsuki said, voice raising in pitch. Mitsuki let out a groan of frustration, turning her back on the boy. Why was her team stuck with his team waiting for their jonin senseis?

"Where are our Sensei? Lazy bums are both late," Shinji said in a bored tone as he pulled a card.

"I think I know who ours is Shinji. He's always late cause he's always sleeping or cloud watching…" Asuka said in her tiny little voice. Her face looked slightly annoyed, but her bright red eyes were alight with amusement. A blonde jonin snickered from behind the door, shoulders shaking silently as his friend glared.

"Sounds like Obito's dad, my older sister said that whenever her mentor Sakura-san has to meet with him, he's always several hours late. Obito is your dad our sensei?" Tatsuki asked, turning to the silver haired boy in question. Obito arched a brow at the loon, wondering if Tatsuki was completely sane. Well, more sane than Mitsuki was at least.

"Not to my knowledge, no. My father is not either of our jonin instructors," the boy said, his dark grey eyes focusing back onto his cards. It seemed to Haru that his new comrade was somewhat agitated at the mention of his father. He couldn't be certain though, Obito hardly ever showed his emotions.

"You dumbass! Why would the Hokage be our sensei? He's probably much to busy to deal with brats like us," Mitsuki said, shoving Tatsuki off the table he was sitting on. He fell to the ground with a loud, high pitched yelp. The blonde jonin outside the door could barely keep from laughing aloud, even his comrade looked amused by the sounds of the genin inside.

"Should we go in?" he mouthed to the whisker faced jonin. Naruto looked to the genius, blue eyes lit up with vast amusement. He nodded once before kicking open the door, shocking Shikumaru with with the sudden action as well as the five conscious genin inside.

"Sorry we're late, Shikamaru here ran into some trouble and I had to save him of course," Naruto said grinning wildly at the genin. The five children, as well as Shikamaru behind him, only stared at him as the same thought passed through each of their minds.

_'What an idiot.'_

"Naruto, stop lying to your genin. Sorry we're late. Team ten follow me," Shikamaru said, leaning against the doorframe lazily. Asuka smiled up at her new sensei, immediately getting up to join him.

"Hiya Shikamaru-_sensei,_" she said with a coy grin. Shikamaru looked down at the nine-year-old with a neutral expression, though he was actually trying not to smile at the young girl.

"Asuka," he greeted. He looked to the two other boys, Tatsuki who was still laying in a heap on the ground, and Shinji who was gathering his cards. The young girl with the purple hair was looking back and forth from Shikamaru to Naruto, a frown etched into her face.

"So…. We have the idiot Sensei?" she asked point blank, looking back and forth between the two again.

"It appears to be so Mitsuki-san," Obito said, standing. Mitsuki looked to the silver haired boy in annoyance before falling back on the table top.

"Kami kill me now."

"That'd be rather unfortunate Mitsuki-chan, you'd leave me alone with our idiot Sensei and Obito-kun?" Haru asked, glancing at his female comrade with a grin. Mitsuki was silent for a moment before sitting up, looking Haru dead in the eye.

"I wouldn't wish that even on Tatsuki," she said with complete seriousness. Shikamaru chuckled, looking to his now slightly uncomfortable friend.

"Nice team you've got there Naruto," he told the blonde as his genin all joined him, Shinji somewhat dragging the dazed Tatsuki behind him. The genin appeared to have hit his head when Mitsuki pushed him to the ground.

"Shut it Shikamaru. Where are you taking your team?" Naruto asked, scratching the back of his head, a cumbersome expression on his face.

"Yakiniku, roof is all yours," Shikamaru said before beckoning for his genin team to follow after him. Tiny little Asuka was practically sprinting to keep up with her new team. Naruto waved the new team off, looking back at the seemingly ragtag team of genin paired up with one of the most brilliant jonin Konohagakure had. Naruto sighed, turning his attention back to his own genin, who had assembled into a straight line in front of him. Kakashi's kid stood off to the right, with the purple haired girl standing in the middle with a judging expression, and the other boy standing just to the left of the girl. All were staring at him.

Naruto clucked his tongue, staring at the trio. "My first impression of you guys. You're a bunch of weirdos." At least the other boy had the decency to look somewhat embarrassed, the purple haired girl just smirked at him while Kakashi's kid simply stared with a blank expression.

Naruto led the trio up to the roof where he had his first meeting as a genin, and began introductions.

"Okay, you three introduce yourselves, start with your name, your likes, dislikes, hobbies, and your goal for the future," Naruto said, sitting on the railing with his team in front of him, once again the girl was in the middle with the two boys flanked on either side. She seemed to be the unspoken leader of them, the one willing to take the lead.

"You first baka-sensei. Tell us about yourself," she said, her black eyes boring into her sensei's blue eyes. She seemed to be challenging the man, seeing how far she could question his authority before he cracked. Naruto grinned in reply.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, I like ramen, especially ichiraku ramen, I dislike the three minute wait for instant ramen. My hobbies… well, I have a lot of hobbies, the main ones being pranking my friends, and my dream is to become the next Hokage," he said. Naruto adjusted his forehead protector, the band still the same since the old Perverted Sage gave it to him. "You first girly."

Mitsuki stared at her new sensei, chewing on the inside of her cheek before she leaned back onto her elbows, crossing her ankles.

"My name is Uzuki Mitsuki, I like to argue and I like to stay up late and watch the moon. I don't like waking up early or letting idiots be right about something, I hate being treated like I'm incompetent, my hobbies include… well I don't want you stalking me so you don't need to know. My goal for the future is to kill the man that slaughtered my father," she said in a bored tone. All the boy's eyes were on her. The way she mentioned going after a man to kill was so cavalier, like it didn't really matter to her. Naruto turned his gaze from the girl, to the Hatake.

"You next kid," he told him, nodding in the silver haired kid's direction. Obito looked from Mitsuki to his new Sensei, his dark grey eyes showing no emotion.

"My name is Hatake Obito. My likes are few and dislikes are many, my hobbies include taking care of plants and practicing my jutsus, my dream for the future is to be recognized as my own person, rather than just the son of the great Hatake Kakashi," he said. Mitsuki looked at her teammate, slightly intrigued, before she focused her attention on Haru.

"Your turn Haru," she stated before Naruto had the chance. Said Jonin bit his tongue to keep from snapping at the girl, and only nodded towards the boy.

"My name is Yamashiro Haru, I like feeding the birds with my dad and studying people. I dislike loud noises and when things don't go as planned. My hobbies are watching the crows of the village and walking around the village, and my dream for the future is to become a strong talented ninja so that I can protect my friends," Haru said. He twiddled his thumbs in his lap, keeping his gaze on the ground.

"How amiable. Now, onto your first ninja duty tomorrow," Naruto said, pulling out three sheets of paper from his pack. Mitsuki immediately perked up at the mention of "ninja duty".

"Sweet, what are we gonna do first?" she asked, sitting up a little bit straighter, though not moving much from her relaxed position. A slight grin was on her face, the only excitement she'd shown all day. Haru and Obito looked interested in the prospect of already doing ninja type things, but neither spoke up.

"Survival training."

All three genins' faces fell.

"Survival training?" Haru queried, confusion reaching his dark blue eyes. Naruto nodded in confirmation.

"Didn't we do enough of that is the academy?" Mitsuki asked, a question lingering in her dark eyes. Her eyes kind of freaked Naruto out to be honest, it was just white and black, there seemed to be no pupil, or no iris. Either way, it was pretty freaky looking. He looked to the other two genins, their eyes were also dark, gray and blue, but at least their pupils were somewhat visible. Naruto smirked at his genin, chuckling when it brought him strange looks.

"What's so funny?" Haru asked, squinting slightly as a cloud moved from in front of the sun. He removed his sunglasses from his collar, placing them on his eyes.

"You guys are so cocky. I can't wait till I tell you, you'll flip out," Naruto said, leaning his head back to look at the sky. Mitsuki quirked an eyebrow at her sensei, her eyes flashing from Obito to Haru, Obito had his own eyebrow raised as Haru just shrugged.

"Flip out you say? That sounds like a challenge Sensei," Mitsuki said, sitting up.

"It is, it is, the challenge is, you have to survive this exam with me as your opponent, or be sent back to the academy, being stripped of your genin status," he said. Naruto looked back at his subordinates, the sun making his bright blue eyes seem even brighter. All three genin paled, shock etched on their faces, even Obito's eyes widened a fraction at the news.

"No way! I refuse to allow myself to be sent back to that place, I'm not gonna let my mom be right!" Mitsuki said passionately, sitting up straight. She glared heavily at the man before her, her eyes growing blacker and more dangerous looking. Naruto only chuckled.

"It seems you all flipped out, but only you were vocal about it girly. I suppose now would be a bad time to tell you that out of your entire class of graduates, only three teams will pass. Only nine genin out of everyone. If you do the math, that about a 66% failure rate," Naruto said, seeming to be very highly amused. Mitsuki let out a growl, and was about to launch herself at the jonin before Haru wrapped a hand around her upper arm, forcing her to stay put.

"What are the rules to this survival training?" he asked. He didn't want to be sent back to the Academy, it'd make his father so disappointed. Naruto's eyes locked with Haru's sunglasses covered ones, smirking in a sly way.

"Meet me tomorrow morning bright and early in the practice field. Make sure you bring all your shinobi weapons and tools. Oh, and skip breakfast, you'll only throw it up," Naruto said. He handed each sheet of paper to the genin trio, nearly laughing when Mitsuki snatched hers away in a nearly violent manner.

"That's all I have to say really. So… see you tomorrow, remember, bright and early!" Naruto said, looking to the sky as a bird flew overhead. And with that, the jonin jumped away, leaving the genin with their thought.

"Stupid senseis, giving us false promises of us becoming genin," Mitsuki said, crumpling her paper up. Obito didn't bother reading it, merely folding it up and tucking it into his pocket. He'd have to sharpen his kunai tonight, they were looking to be a bit dull. Only Haru seemed to read the page thoroughly, memorizing each word that had been written down.

"Haru, wanna go practice aim skills?" Mitsuki asked, standing up and stretching. Her arms lifted upwards, grasping one stiff elbow with one hand, using it as leverage to pop her shoulders. Haru turned the paper over to see if there was anything else on it, finding none, before looking up at Mitsuki with a smile.

"Sure Mitsuki-chan, would you like to join us Obito-kun?" Haru asked kindly to the silver haired boy. Mitsuki shoved her hands into her pockets, returning to her familiar slouched posture.

She was one of the best at physical in their entire class, she just didn't like the mental. It wasn't that she couldn't do it, it was that she saw it as a waste of time learning something like that, Mitsuki, when studied up under Haru's watchful eye, was very adequate at the mental part of being a ninja. Haru was just the opposite, he found that if he could have the mental worked out of anything, he could plan out anything based on information he's gathered, he just needed to get the physical worked out, which Mitsuki made sure he did after he tutored her on the mental. It was no wonder the sensei's put the three of them together, Obito mused, one was good at physical and not so good at mental, the other was good at mental and not so good at the physical, and Obito was an all rounder. They would make a good ninja team, as long as they worked together.

Obito's grey eyes looked to Mitsuki, as if making sure it was okay with her to tag along. She was watching Obito expectantly, a blank face that waited for his answer. It gave him no indication as to what she wanted.

"If you don't mind, Haru-san and Mitsuki-san. It couldn't hurt to train for a while," Obito said. He pushed himself off the ground, brushing off the back of his shorts for any grit that may have remained.

"Cool, let's go then, after we can go get ramen or something," Mitsuki said. Haru smiled, standing also.

"Good idea Mitsuki-chan, it could help us get a better dynamic as a team by doing stuff together," he said. Mitsuki hummed, but said nothing, only began to walk away, taking the slow way to the target arena. Haru followed after his friend, sliding his sunglasses up over his forehead protector. Obito looked to the skies, grey eyes searching for the brown bird Naruto had seen.

"Obito, you coming or what?" Mitsuki called, earning Obito's attention. Said silver-haired boy nodded.

"Yes, coming," he called, looking to the skies once more as he began to walk after his new comrades.

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**So, how was that?**

**Good, bad, ugly? Was it at least a good ugly like coyote ugly?**

**Reviews would be helpful... And they would boost my self esteem to keep writing. I'll still write, the chapter quality might be better though if I had encouragement... Now ends my begging.**

**LOVE YOU LOVEBUCKETS!**


	4. Comrades

**HELLO AND MERRY CHRISTMAS TO THOSE IN PACIFIC STANDARD TIME AND WEST WARD!**

**Well, until it becomes a new day (when does that happen anyway?)**

**I have a (somewhat belated) Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/birthday/December celebration gift to you all!**

**It's this chapter! Oooh, ahhh. So sparkly and new!**

**Okay, I got a review last chapter (a review, singular) and I'm sorry if I haven't been very original for you all, I've just been trying to find a non obnoxious way to write this.**

**Hopefully this chapter is good enough for ya'll! I'd love to know what you think, and reviews equal happier authors who can write more... -wink wink-**

**I'm just joking, I'll be writing anyway, I'll just be begging less!**

**Okay, this chapter's chapter art is -drumroll-**

**Obito standing with Mitsuki and Haru flanked beside him. Obito wearing a mask over the lower half of his face, Mitsuki coughing into her hand, and Haru with his sunglasses on.**

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Hatake Obito awoke bright and early the next day, having had the early morning sun shine down on his face to wake him up. His room was much like him, bare, only needing the basics. The only thing that gave Obito's room any personality were the three potted plants on his windowsill.

"Obito-kun, are you up yet?" Obito's mother, Hatake Kaori, said softly, knocking on her son's door softly. Obito sat up straight in bed, rubbing the sleep out of his bleary eyes.

"Hai Okaa-san, I'll be ready in a few minutes," he called out. He ran a hand through his silver spikes, making his bed head look somewhat less… wild. It wouldn't become tame anyway, so the least he could do was make it look like it was on purpose. Obito watered his plants before he did anything else, trimming away over long limbs and extra leaves.

After tending to his plants, Obito dressed himself and packed his newly sharpened weapons in his holster. Target practice with his new teammates had been fun, and he learned that Mitsuki had the quickest, most accurate shot out of all three of them. Haru was alright, but Mitsuki gave him pointers, telling Haru to use his arm to aim, not just his eyes. They were quite different outside of class, as Obito learned. He actually enjoyed going to Ichiraku with them, although he could have done without Mitsuki and the shop owner, Ayame, arguing. Thankfully Ayame's son stepped in between, reminding his mother that there was food cooking.

"Are you ready for today, Obito-kun?" Kaori asked, setting down some tea on the table.

"Yeah. Is Otou-san at work already?"

"Hai, he left an hour ago. Now hurry up and drink your tea, you've got an exciting day today. My baby boy, first ninja duty, your father and I are so proud of you," Kaori said, smoothing back her son's silver hair. Obito smiled slightly, drinking his tea quickly. The heat of it didn't bother him as he downed the cup.

"Thank you Okaa-san, I'll see you later," Obito said, bowing slightly to his mother. She smiled back at her son, before going off to get ready to work at the hospital. Obito smiled warmly at his mother's back, expressions he only saved for her, before pulling his face back into a blank mask and heading out the door.

_**-Meanwhile, across town-**_

"Haru-kun, are you sure you don't want any breakfast?" Haru's mother, Yamashiro Hana, fretted. She was standing in the kitchen, spatula in hand. Haru nodded his head, smiling at his worrisome mother.

"I'm fine mom, Naruto-sensei said to skip breakfast," Haru said. He made sure that he had enough shuriken in his holster. He was grateful for the tips Mitsuki had given him yesterday, they had improved his shot. Even his father had noted that it was better when Haru came home to practice with him.

"Hana, let Haru be. You can make him a nice dinner tonight, you can't go against a sensei's orders," Haru's father, Yamashiro Aoba, said, coming in from outside. Hana only glared slightly at her husband.

"The hell I can't! It's unhealthy for a growing boy to go without breakfast. This sensei of his is crazy I tell you," Hana said, waving a spatula at Aoba. Haru's father only laughed at his wife.

"How are the birds this morning dad?" Haru asked. He was changing the subject, true enough, but he knew his mother couldn't interrupt his father once he started talking about his birds. Hana tossed her hands up into the air, turning back to the stove.

"They're good, Yuuki and Isa are growing at a nice rate, should be flying by the time the week is done, just as I planned," Aoba said, a calculative expression on his face.

"That's good, I got to go now. Bye Mom, Dad, I'll see you later," Haru said, grabbing his shoes as he headed out the door. His parents bid him goodbye, and as the young genin closed the door, he could hear his father talking about the birds to his mother. He smiled to himself, before running off to the practice field where he found his sensei and Obito waiting.

"Sorry, am I late?" he asked, looking up at the sky. Naruto shook his head, leaning back against a wooden post.

"No, I never set a specific time. Could have come at whatever time meant "bright and early" to you. Seems to be that you two had the same idea about it, Obito got here just a minute before you," he said. Haru nodded, looking around. Mitsuki was the only one not there, and was probably not going to be there for a while.

"So Mitsuki-chan is the only one missing. She's usually late," Haru said, giving reason to the girl's absence. The jonin hummed in response. The trio waited in silence after that, thirty minutes passing before the kunoichi walked up.

Haru and Obito both noticed that their female comrade was working her fingers through her hair, angrily pulling and tugging at the short purple locks. Her hitai-ate bandana and her ponytail holders were being held between her teeth as she stormed onto the field.

"You okay Mitsuki-chan?" Haru asked, concern coloring his dark blue eyes. Mitsuki tugged at her hair one last time before releasing it. The short purple hair barely brushed passed her chin, bangs falling onto her cheek bone.

"'Mfine," she grumbled out, pulling her hair back into it's usual hairstyle of two pig tails right at the base of her skull. She quickly fastened her hair ties in before tying her bandana around her head, she seemed to take extra care making sure that Konoha's symbol was placed right in the center. Her bangs were now held out of her eyes, and slightly to the side. Once finished, silence transcended on the group. All three genin looked to Naruto expectantly, waiting for his instructions. The blonde jonin said nothing to them, did nothing, it was like he was waiting for them.

"Um, Naruto-sensei?" Haru asked, chewing on his lip.

"Hm?" the jonin asked, looking at Haru.

"Are we going to start this survival training or what? Don't call us out here to do nothing," Mitsuki said. She had begun to pop each of the joints in her arms, feeling the small shots of relief and pleasure shoot through her system.

"Well aren't you eager. Okay, fine then, you guys want to start then," Naruto said, pushing himself up off the post. He pulled two bells out of his weapons holster, bright silver ones that jingled with each movement. He held them out for all three genin to see, and all three genin had their eyes glued to the bells.

"What are those?" Mitsuki asked, her black eyes following the small silver baubles.

"Well little Miki-chan, these are bells as you can see," Naruto said in an obvious manner. Mitsuki's blank face contorted into a glare aimed at her sensei.

"I meant, what are they for?" she asked. Naruto grinned in response, bouncing the bells once before catching them in his fist.

"That's a better question, these bells are going to be what you take from me. You have to take them from me before noon, those who don't get a bell don't get any lunch. And not only will you not get any lunch, but I'll tie you to one of these posts and eat your lunch in front of you," Naruto said, a mischievous gleam in his eyes. Silence fell on them quickly, and the sound of rumbling bellies was heard.

_'Tricky bastard, telling us not to eat breakfast to make the stakes higher,'_ Mitsuki thought, glaring at her sensei. Her hand rested on her stomach, wrapping her fingers through her mesh top. She could feel her stomach contracting, waiting for food to fill it.

"Okay, big deal no lunch," Mitsuki said, playing off her hunger. Her stomach was clenched tight, an attempt to keep it from growling. Her black eyes looked over to Haru, who had sweat dropped. Probably from having convinced his mom that he didn't need breakfast. Mitsuki had met Hana, she liked to make sure her son and his friends were well fed.

Naruto chuckled again. "What's so funny?" Haru asked curiously.

"Nothing, nothing, just that, if you don't get a bell, you fail. And since I only have one-two, two bells right here, that means that one of you is going back to the Academy," Naruto said, dropping the bells from his fist. Now the bells had an ominous gleam to them. Mitsuki swallowed heavily, her hands falling to her sides as she clenched her fists.

"So basically, putting us in these teams was useless?" Obito asked, breaking the silence that followed their sensei's ominous message. Naruto shrugged. He hooked the bells onto his left hip, where it could easily be by anyone watching the jonin.

"Now, you're allowed to use any ninja weapon that you can use, because in all seriousness, you won't beat me unless you come at me prepared to kill," Naruto said. He had a look of complete seriousness, and the genin before him felt the chill of fear strike down their spines. In the past 24 hours that they'd met him, he'd never had a look this serious on his face, it was usually so carefree. Now that it was so serious, it made him seem older, more experienced, and highly dangerous.

Haru bit down on his tongue, his toes twitching in his black ninja sandal. He didn't want to send one of his comrades back to the academy, they were just made a team. That was wrong.

"What if we refuse?" Mitsuki asked, earning the full attention of her two male comrades. Both their eyes widened from the question.

What was she insinuating? Refusing to listen to their Sensei? Did she want to fail? Thoughts raced through Haru's head, his mind reeling at Mitsuki's statement. Obito's dark grey eyes narrowed, studying the girl, before moving closer to the girl, standing shoulder to shoulder to his teammate.

"Yes, Naruto-Sensei, what happens to us if we refuse to do this?" he asked. Mitsuki smirked slightly at her comrade as she crossed her arms over her chest. Haru looked at the two as if they'd lost their mind. What could possibly have driven them to this conclusion, that they could refuse to do what their sensei ordered. But then one thought raced throw his mind, ringing loudly through his skull. Oh, that's what they were doing. Haru suppressed a grin as he moved to stand next to Mitsuki as well, shoulder to shoulder. Rebelling against their sensei.

Naruto raised both blonde eyebrows at his subordinates. They were refusing him? Well, that was an unexpected twist of events.

"Well, this is unexpected. Why are you refusing orders?" Naruto asked, looking straight at Mitsuki. She was the ringleader with this, and from her file, Naruto had somewhat expected it.

"You're asking us to fight against our comrades, condemn them to not become ninja. That's the most, ugh, pardon my language sensei, but that is the most fucked up thing I've ever heard," Mitsuki said. Naruto's eyebrows raised even more, and again did so as Obito spoke up.

"I can't participate in something that my new comrades, my new friends, would have to fight against me. I couldn't live with myself if I were responsible for sending one of them back to the academy," Obito said. Haru nodded his agreement.

"If all of us can't pass, you might as well send us all back," he said.

Naruto stared at his genin, surprise filling his mind. Could they really all think that way, when he and his teammates at this age had been so selfish? Naruto smiled, chuckling deeply. It caught the three genin off guard.

_'They sure are different from us, Sasuke-teme,'_ he thought looking up at the sky. A large hawk flew across the sky, it's red tail catching the sunlight.

"So, you three are refusing to fight me to save each other huh?" he asked, looking at them with the coldest face he could muster. Haru nearly jumped back from the coldness of it, but stopped when Mitsuki grabbed his wrist to keep him in place.

"That's right. So, should we let Hinata-sensei and Chouji-sensei know that they'll see us in class next term?" she asked, chin held up in defiance against her sensei. Her insides were shaking like jelly, and she wanted to cry at the fact that she wouldn't get to be a ninja. But on the other hand, she wouldn't be betraying her comrades by sending them back to the academy just so she could become a genin.

Naruto stared long and hard at them, before turning around. "Follow me, I want to show you guys something," he said. He beckoned for the genin to follow him with a twitch of his fingers over his shoulder. Haru looked towards Mitsuki and Obito, but found them already following their sensei. Haru hurried after, quickly catching up to the two.

The trio followed Naruto past the wooden posts, and walked a small distance to a large rock. Obito noted that this was the village memorial stone, dedicated to those lost in battle. His father had brought him here a few times as a kid.

"The village Memorial Stone," he said, before his sensei had the chance to ask what it was, or tell them. Naruto nodded.

"Yes, this stone is dedicated to all Konoha nin who have fallen in battle. They died protecting their village, giving their life for the children of the village. You guys. When I was just a graduate, my sensei told me that this stone had some of the greatest ninja were on this stone. I was so excited, I announced that I wanted to be on this stone, but that was before he told me that this stone was for nin that had been killed in action. At the time, I didn't want that, I wanted to become a great ninja, and a greater Hokage, like the Sandaime. I didn't want to die before my dream was realized. Now, I realize that dying protecting your village is one of the greatest things a ninja can do," he said, eyes focused on the stone. Mitsuki stared at the stone, eyes roaming it to find that familiar name. Her father's name. Her hands were clenched into fists at her sides, listening to her sensei's story.

"What does that have to do with our refusing to do the Survival Training?" Haru asked curiously. Mitsuki closed her eyes as soon as she saw her father's name. The familiar name she saw once a week. She was no stranger to this stone, it was her escape every Sunday. She sat there for hours, praying to her father and all the other nins that had died protecting her village. She understood her sensei, she wanted to be as great as these ninja, who protected their village to the very end.

"Do you think these ninja ended up on here by refusing to do what their superiors told them? By telling the Hokage that they weren't doing their mission at the expense of some other ninja?" Naruto asked, turning his blue eyes onto the three genin. Mitsuki visibly flinched at the accusation, looking down at the ground. Glaring at the soil. She felt stupid now. Haru stood silently next to the kunoichi, his eyes never leaving the stone. Haru stood to the side, a somber expression on his face. The trio stood in silence for a minute or two, just wallowing in what they did before Obito spoke up.

"There are many reasons that ninja are on there. They gave themselves up for their comrades, sacrificing themselves, they tried to protect their village in a threat, or were killed in combat. I don't know what all these ninja did, but I know they all died doing something great. Sacrificing themselves for the people of Konoha knowing they were doing something to help," Obito said. Naruto listened to the silver haired genin with a thoughtful expression, nodding.

"So, they gave their lives, their everything, for someone else. Either a villager, a comrade, family or friend. And all of you are willing to send yourselves back to the academy so that you don't send your comrade back yourself?" Naruto asked, his eyes locking onto each of the young ninja. Mitsuki looked up from the ground, her eyes shining with a power Naruto couldn't begin to recognize.

"Yes," she stated in a strong voice.

"Yes," Haru echoed, looking at his sensei.

"Yes," Obito finished. All three genin stared at the jonin instructor before them, prepared to be told that they were going back to the academy.

"Well… I've only got one thing to say to you three. You pass." The silence following those two words was deafening, Obito stared at his sensei, eyes widened in shock as Mitsuki fell to her knees beside him. Haru felt all the air inside him leave. Did he just say what he thought he just said? They all passed?

"We- we passed?" Haru asked, incredulously. But, they were for sure going back to the academy, he thought. They purposefully defied him, and he was passing him? Naruto nodded.

"Yup, you have displayed an amazing show of comradeship, something I wish I'd had at your age. None of you will be sent back to the academy, you are all officially genin and part of team Naruto," he said, grinning that famous grin of his. All his genin stared at him, still in shock, before Mitsuki launched herself at him. Naruto braced himself, thinking the young girl was going to start beating on him. But instead of being hit by fists, Naruto was hit by a small body, with thin arms wrapping around his torso.

"Thank you Naruto-sensei, thank you thank you!" Mitsuki said, hugging her sensei with all she had. All three males stood there in shock, none had expected the young girl to do that. Start yelling at him for tricking them like that, sure, but running up to him and hugging the sensei? Definitely not. Naruto pat the young kunoichi affectionately on the head.

"Thank you Miki-chan, and you two as well, Obito-kun and Haru-kun. You three have made me proud to be your sensei. Now, how about I treat you three to ramen? I forgot to bring you guys lunch anyway," Naruto said, grinning. All three of his genin looked up at him with a blank expression, and Mitsuki let go of him.

_'What an idiot…'_ they all thought.

* * *

**So, what'd you think? Good, bad, Coyote Ugly, regular ugly?**

**Questions about the chapter art? Did you see the theme? Did you know there was a theme? Can you figure out the theme?**

**I'll give cookies to whoever gets the theme!**

**SEE YOU GUYS NEXT CHAPTER!**

**LOVE YOU LOVEBUCKETS!**


	5. Mission Woes

**HI! Okay, this chapter is shorter than the last two chapters, but it was a good place to end it.**

**Thank you ArticFire for your review! I'm glad you like my genin!  
**

**Okay, this chapter is basically a filler until next chapter, and it is largely based off the actual Naruto one with the exception of changes. Don't worry, they won't be following the plot line of Naruto, they're their own story.**

**Okay, I hope you enjoy this chapter, even if it's just a filler! Oh, and the theme in last chapter's chapter art, was that they were all pretending to be their fathers.**

**This chapter's chapter art is Mitsuki standing in front, and instead of a bandana on her head she has black cat ears. Haru is standing off in the distance, facing left with Black wings sprouting from his shoulder blades. Obito is sitting on the ground on the opposite side, staring straight ahead, with black dog ears, paws, and tail visible. Naruto is standing Behind Mitsuki, with large Black fox ears and winking.

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**

"Are the targets in sight?" Naruto's voice crackled through the radio system. Mitsuki crouched in a bush, a thorn digging into her backside as her black eyes located the target in front of her.

"Affirmative on my side, target is in site," she said, eyes narrowing as eh watched the target attempt to keep from getting noticed.

"I'm locked onto my target," Obito said, his voice even. Mitsuki fought the urge to roll her eyes, did that boy ever show emotion?

"My target is about to move, requesting permission to get my target," Haru asked, sounding antsy. His leg was bouncing, hidden behind a tree as he watched his suspicious target. They were both prepared to run, and the target wouldn't escape this time.

"On my count, three, two, one, GO!" All three genin shot out from their hiding spaces, racing toward each of their targets. Two of the targets saw the genin coming after them, and started running.

"NO! LEMME GO!" screamed the four-year-old boy that Obito held upside down in his arms. The genin was trying to keep the kid from kicking him in the face, and held tight so that the kid wouldn't run off like his siblings.

Mitsuki's target, a young girl with a thing for biting, ran down the street with the purple haired ninja hot on her trail. Mitsuki jumped onto a nearby cart, careful not to step on the produce being sold there, and used it as leverage to leap at the young girl, tackling her to the ground. Mitsuki cradled the young girl to her body, protecting it from the ground as she twisted to land on her back. Whoever said Mitsuki was careless never saw her with kids.

"Let go stupid! I wanna play!" the young girl yelled, wriggling around on top of Mitsuki. She attempted to twist around, to find a place to sink her teeth into the purple haired girl.

"Shut up!" Mitsuki yelled back, holding the girl tightly. She used her legs to stand back up, not realizing that her bandana had fallen off and her hair now hung loose. The wriggling four-year-old twisted around in Mituski's arms, and was about to sink her teeth into the older girl's shoulder when she caught sight of her purple hair. The young girl liked purple.

"Pritty…" the young girl said, a light blush on her face. The little girl reached out a hand to touch Mitsuki's hair, but the genin ducked her head away.

"No touching. But, if you promise not to run away again I'll let you play with it," Mitsuki bartered, readjusting her hold on the child. The girl agreed quickly, letting Mitsuki hold her on her hip as the genin bent down to grab her bandana. The two then joined Obito, who was still struggling with his kid.

Now, Haru's target wasn't that easy, his was five and the ringleader of the other two. He weaved through the crowds of much taller adults with ease running from Haru as the older boy chased after him. The kid was notorious for running away from his baby sitters during the day and bringing his younger twin siblings with him. He was Haru's target, and he wasn't going to let some stupid genin hired by his parents get him.

The young boy ran into a flower shop, ducking behind a large bouquet of large gardenias. He ducked down there, thinking no one could see him though the shop keeper could see him plain as day. The older blonde woman smiled, pretending she didn't notice him as she arranged a vase of flowers on the counter.

Once Haru ran in, his dark eyes searched the shop, stopping on the older Yamanaka woman. She smiled at him, winking surreptitiously as her eyes flashed to the young boy hiding behind the bouquet. Haru bowed his thanks to the woman, before sneaking around behind the precocious child. He was peeking out from behind the flowers, trying to see if Haru had followed him into the store. Carefully, Haru cast a small genjutsu to put the child to sleep. Upon seeing the child slump over, Haru lifted the child up over his shoulder, supporting the child by wrapping one arm around the boy's back, and the other around his legs.

"Arigatou, Yamanaka-san," Haru said, once again nodding towards the older woman.

"He always runs in here, I think he's got a crush on Ino," she said, clipping one of the flower stems. Haru hummed before saying his goodbyes and going off to join his comrades. He found them by the Hokage's office, with an amused Naruto and Obito watching as the young girl played with an aggravated Mitsuki's hair. She looked like she was pulling hard on the purple locks as she attempted to braid the short hair. It looked more tangled than anything.

"How did this happen?" Haru asked. He readjusted his hold on the child on his shoulder, not wanting the kid to slip off or be uncomfortable.

"Risa-chan likes purple," Naruto said, barely keeping the grin off his face. Mitsuki threw a glare up at her sensei, not bothering to move her head to glare at him appropriately. Haru nodded slowly, and turned his eyes to Obito, who held a pouting four-year-old in his arms.

"Riku-kun got scolded by Risa-chan," Obito said, his dark grey eyes fixed on the unconscious five-year-old being supported on Haru's shoulder.

"I used a genjutsu on Ryuu-kun, he'll wake up in an hour or so," Haru explained. Naruto arched an eyebrow at this, well, at least it was effective.

"Alright, let's go return the kids to the babysitters," Naruto said. Mitsuki stood up, quickly agreeing as she lifted Risa onto her hip. The young girl pouted, and gripped her tiny little hand in the genin's hair while being carried. The three ninja followed their sensei up to the missions office, where a chuunin was waiting, he held a blank expression, and seemed to be in need of a tissue.

"Udon, these your kids?" Naruto asked, recognizing the boy. Udon nodded, his expression unchanging as he caught sight of the three children.

"Thank you for catching them Naruto-kun," the man said. He was only nineteen-years-old, still a chuunin and not wishing to go any further, he didn't know a thing about taking care of children. Risa, upon seeing Udon, held onto Mitsuki's hair tighter, wrapping her tiny little arms around the genins neck.

"I don't wanna go back to him! He's boring!" she whined, hold tighter to Mitsuki. Mitsuki's face pulled into one of pain and annoyance as the girl kept pulling her hair. She was sure some of it had ripped out, but she said nothing as she let the child bury her head into the sensitive skin of her neck. Riku however, was wriggling even more, desperate to escape again. It was apparent that these kids didn't want to go back to their babysitter.

"Risa-chan, Riku-kun," Kakashi spoke up from behind his desk. Riku quit his squirming as his twin looked up from Mitsuki's neck. He beckoned them over as the genin set them down.

Making sure to keep clear of Udon, the two four-year-olds made their way over to the Hokage, their eyes barely above the table top.

"Hai, Mr. Hokage-sama?" Risa asked, standing on her tip toes to see the Hokage. Kakashi bent so that he seemed closer to the young children.

"Why is it that every time you have to be watched by Udon-kun, you run away?" he asked. Risa and Riku looked down, slightly ashamed.

"He's boring, he doesn't play with us," Riku said, kicking his toes at the ground.

"Yeah, he doesn't even respond to our pranks," Risa added, pouting. The young girl then pointed back to Mitsuki and her team, her face held a fire to it as she looked up at the Hokage. "I want them to be our babysitters." Kakashi arched an eyebrow at the young girl, looking to Riku.

"What about you Riku, do you want them to be your babysitters?" the Rokudaime Hokage asked, turning to the young boy. Riku looked back at Obito and then over to Udon, unsure of which to pick. He bit his lip as he turned his attention back to the Hokage, big brown eyes wide with childish innocence.

"I want them too," he said. Kakashi nodded, sitting up straight. He looked to Udon, who still wore that same expression.

"Udon-kun, I hope you don't mind if these genin take on the children," he said. Udon shook his head.

"Of course not, Hokage-sama," the chuunin said, bowing before Kakashi. Kakashi nodded, and turned his gaze upon his son and his team.

"Well that's it. From now on, unless you are on a scheduled mission, any time that the Aichaku children need babysitting you shall be called to attend to them," Kakashi said, a note of authority in his voice. Unfortunately, one of the three genin before him had an issue with authority. Risa jumped up and down in excitement, giggling like the little girl she was, while Mitsuki stood up at full height, a menacing height of 4'5.

"WH-" Mitsuki's loud yell was cut off by Naruto clapping a hand over her mouth, pulling the young girl back against his body to prevent her from lashing out. Mitsuki struggled against her sensei, trying to yell at the Hokage for saddling them with the kids. Haru thought that she reminded him vaguely of the kids they had tried so hard to catch.

"What she means is, Hokage-sama, is that we'd be honored to look after the Aichaku children," Naruto said, trying not to wince as Mitsuki attempted to bite her Sensei. Kakashi, seemingly amused by the young girl's antics, let out a low chuckle.

"Let me guess, she wants a more challenging mission?" he asked, humor finding it's way in the visible parts of his face. Naruto's face turned bright red in color, remembering what he had done when he wanted a better mission.

"Well, you have been sending us on a lot of easy missions, Hokage-sama," Obito spoke up, dark grey eyes looking at his father. The Hokage looked at his son, somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected his son to think he'd only been giving the team easy tasks. Naruto stood back, letting his genin take over, although he didn't let the still squirming Mitsuki go. He was no fool. Okay, maybe he was, but there was a small shred of common sense floating around in his blonde spike covered head to not let go of the spitfire known as Uzuki Mitsuki.

"I see, so all three of you are fed up with the easy missions I've been giving. You want harder ones, C rank ones. I've actually got one that I was going to give to another team of genin… But I think your team will be good for this one Naruto. You especially should like this," Kakashi said, digging through the files on top of the table. "Oh, kids, please go back with Udon-kun for the rest of the day. And try to behave, alright?" Both kids agreed heartily, and Haru passed on the unconscious Ryuu to the chuunin.

"I'm sending you three on a mission to recover a dangerous animal. Now this isn't any animal, it's given Konoha trouble before, especially your sensei," Kakashi said. There was a devious twinkle behind his visible eye. And Naruto narrowed his eyes at his former sensei.

"Oh please don't tell me," he said, releasing Mitsuki as he glared at the Hokage. Kakashi nodded, obviously amused at the blonde jonin's uncomfortable aura.

"It seems Condor has escaped again."

"DAMN IT NOT AGAIN!" Naruto yelled. Haru jumped at the outburst of his sensei, and all three genin stood aside to watch their sensei have a mental breakdown. The blonde man crouched over, hands buried into his hair as he muttered over again something about a stupid ostrich. Oh how he hated that ostrich, it was so annoying!

"Is Naruto-Sensei crazy?" Mitsuki voiced, massaging her jaw from when her sensei had kept a firm hand covering it. Stupid sensei.

"Well, yes, but that's not the reason he's reacting this way. Condor is an Ostrich that has given Naruto a lot of problems in the past," Kakashi explained, watching his former student have a mild panic attack on the ground. Mitsuki stopped rubbing her jaw, freezing where she was.

"Ostrich? That's, that's a big bird right?" she asked, looking to both Obito and Haru to confirm her thoughts. Haru nodded smiling.

"Yeah, big bird, doesn't fly though. It should be an easy mission, I'm good with birds," Haru said, full of confidence. But Mitsuki wasn't feeling as confident, she already didn't like this mission.

* * *

**Yes, Condor. I brought the infamous Ostrich into this.**

**I told you it was a filler, but was it a decent filler?**

**I'm getting started on the next chapter now, please tell me what you think of the chapter, so that I can fix any mistakes.**

**See you guys next chapter.**

**LOVE YOU LOVEBUCKETS!  
**


	6. Secrets and Curiosity

**HI HI! Okay, so, this chapter, not my best.**

**I felt rushed because I won't be able to write for a few days because of holiday things.**

**But I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter! We learn a secret about Mitsuki-chan!**

**Oh, and my reviewers, three words. I. LOVE. YOU.**

**I thought the Ostrich would be a fun twist, besides, who doesn't like giant vengeful flightless birds?**

**And I'll keep writing, no worries. This is actually the most I've written in this amount of days...**

**All I can say is, "where was this inspiration when I was doing NaNo?**

**Okay, enough of my rambling, onto the chapter art and then the story!**

**Chapter Art is Obito, Haru, and Mitsuki standing together wearing detective clothes while interviewing a nervous looking Naruto.  
**

* * *

Mitsuki woke early in the morning, her eyes submerged into the reddish pink light of the dawning sun. It was the day of her mission, the day she would have her first C rank mission. A mission she didn't want.

Inhaling deeply, Mituski shoved her blankets off her body. Her feet hit the cold floor as she got up, preparing for her day. She needed to pack for her mission, Naruto had said at most they'd be gone was a week, so she needed to pack some personal hygiene products so that she could retain her femininity on the mission at hand.

She wasn't leaving the village until noon, and meeting her team only thirty minutes prior to that. But it was Sunday, and she had somewhere to be.

Mitsuki quickly packed for the mission, double checking to see if she had everything she'd need, before heading out. Before heading out the door, she wrote a note to her mom, telling her that she would be at the memorial stone before she left for her mission. Her mother was asleep on the couch, again, so Mitsuki tucked the note under her mother's hand and pressed a gentle kiss to her mother's forehead.

"Bye Mommy," she said, smoothing back her mother's own purple hair. And with that done, Mitsuki left her house, heading towards the familiar practice field which annexed to the even more familiar Memorial Stone. Upon reaching the stone, Mitsuki was surprised to see that she was not alone. The Hokage was standing in front of the stone, staring at it.

"Hokage-sama?" she asked, stepping into the small clearing surrounding the stone. The Hokage looked up, surprised at being caught there.

"Mitsuki-chan, come to pay your respects as well?" he asked, turning his body to look at the young genin. Mitsuki nodded once, walking forward to take her place just off center of the stone, right in front of where her father's name was.

"Your father was Gekko Hayate?" the Hokage asked, as Mitsuki kneeled onto the ground. Her legs were tucked under her, her pack forgotten on the ground behind her, and her hands clasped together on her lap.

"Yeah. I never got to meet him," she said. The two stood in silence for a short while longer, Mitsuki sending up a silent prayer to her father, and the Hokage standing there, just staring at the stone.

"Make sure Obito is safe on the mission," the Hokage said, bringing Mitsuki out of her silent prayer. She looked up at the Hokage, her black eyes large and surprised. Kakashi wasn't looking at her, still staring at the stone. Mitsuki had heard stories around town that the Hokage had named his only son after his fallen comrade, his best friend, whose name was written on the rock. The young genin wasn't sure if he was talking to her or the stone.

"Obito is strong, and very calm. He'll be the reason we're all safe," Mitsuki said, turning her attention back towards the stone. She didn't know if she got a reaction from the Rokudaime, but she felt the hand on her head. The Rokudaime crouched down next to Mitsuki, his hand placed on her head, his head was bent forward and appeared to be praying.

"Hayate-san, please continue watching over your daughter, and keep her and her team safe on the upcoming mission with whatever may happen. She looks to your guidance in times of trouble," Kakashi said, saying his prayer to Mitsuki's father. The purple haired genin's eyes were wide. The Rokudaime was praying to her father to keep her safe.

"Hokage-sama," Mitsuki sputtered out once the Hokage finished his prayer. The Hokage looked to the young girl, smiling as he pat the girl on the head.

"You're a good girl, and you're a good teammate for my son," he said. He stood up just after saying that, a light blush now decorating Mitsuki's cheeks. Kakashi turned to leave, apparently done mourning in front of the stone.

"Hokage-sama?" Mitsuki called. The words caused the silver haired Hokage to stop, and turn back to Mitsuki.

"Yes, Mitsuki-chan?" he asked curiously. The young genin was blushing heavily now, looking down at the ground. This was so embarrassing.

"I'm scared of birds," she said, only loud enough to carry to the Hokage's ears.

"Birds?" questioned the Hokage. Mitsuki blushed harder, and began to glare at the ground as she nodded.

"Especially big birds," she established. She hated birds, ever since she was six.

_She'd been in the park with Michiru, playing on the merry go round of course, when this older kid, about nine, came over. He seemed weird, and Mitsuki hadn't recognized him from anywhere in the village. Michiru was asking him who he was when all the sudden this flock of birds started attacking the kids on the playground. Mitsuki could remember the screams that came from her and the other children. They were ninja birds, specially trained to attack. The one attacking Mitsuki was huge, bigger than her. The bird was thrown off of her by Michiru, who had activated his family's kekkei genkai in the desperation of the situation. None of the children at the playground had known how to use jutsus or fight or anything. They were just little kids._

_Eventually, the commotion had gathered the attention of the people of Konoha, and jonins soon came to help the children. Mitsuki will never forget her and Michiru's rescuer, Hyuuga Neji, Michiru's cousin. Mitsuki remembered clinging onto Neji after he escaped the playground with the two children. She'd cried hard, refusing to let go of the man until her mother showed up to get her._

Mitsuki was pretty sure that she was the only one who retained a phobia from that incident.

"Have faith in Naruto," Kakashi said, his words bringing Mitsuki to raise her eyes up to meet the Hokage's eye. "Your sensei may be goofy, but he is one of the strongest ninja I know, and he would never let anything happen to his comrades." The Hokage's words brought a smile to Mitsuki's lips.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," she said. Kakashi appeared to smile through the mask.

"Take care Mitsuki-chan," he said before walking off. Once left alone, Mitsuki got up, approaching the stone to fully read the names on there. Her hands hovered an inch above the stone, skimming over the names until she saw a familiar first name, with a different last name.

"Uchiha Obito… So you're Obito's namesake. Hokage-sama must really miss you if he comes out so early in the morning to remember you… Uchiha Obito, please watch over my team, protect them from harm. And watch over Hokage-sama, because I'm sure that even though he has all us villagers, he feels lonely without you," Mitsuki prayed, clasping her hands together. She knew that without the Nin who had given their life in combat, they wouldn't have the Konoha she knew and loved today. She prayed to whoever she could recognize, last names from classmates, names mentioned in class, she prayed to them all, to keep her village safe. Most of all, Mitsuki prayed to her father. She asked him to watch over her mom, her friends, teachers, team, the villagers, and she just talked to him. This was as close to a father-daughter interaction she'd ever get, and she'd keep it up until she died.

She prayed for a few hours, until the sun was high enough overhead that she knew she needed to go meet her team.

"See you later Dad, I'll see you next Sunday," she said, pulling out a small white flower from her back, and setting it in front of the memorial.

Once meeting up with her team, late again but this time only by five minutes, Naruto briefed his team about the mission.

"Okay, this ostrich, Condor, is notorious for escaping. I had to deal with him twice as a Genin myself, the first to just return him, and the second to capture him because he escaped into the Training Ground Zero. The worst thing about this ostrich, besides the fact that he seems to think our fates our intertwined for me to stop him, is that he's trained himself to be a ninja and to talk," Naruto said, looking down at his genin. All three of them stared at him, wondering how weak of a person he must be to be sent after the same bird over and over again.

"An Ostrich…" Obito said, a question laying heavy in his voice.

"Who can talk?" Mitsuki asked, staring hard at the blonde jonin.

"And do ninja skills?" Haru finished. All three genin stared incredulously at Naruto. Naruto nodded.

"And the last time I saw him, the third time, he had a few chicks with him so we should expect there to be a few more," he explained. He hoisted his pack high up on his shoulder.

"Naruto-sensei, where was the Ostrich last seen?" Haru asked curiously. He considered himself a bird expert, what with his father raising crows for his jutsus. He liked birds, they were fun and Haru liked spending time with his father caring for them.

"It was heading towards Suna, and a couple of chuunin are going to meet us on the border to accompany us until we recapture Condor and bring him back out of the border's of Suna. If we have time, I'll give you guys some training while we're there. It should be a good experience," Naruto said. He looked at each face of his student's. There was a fire burning behind each of their eyes, eager to get out of the village. "You guys ready for this?"

"Hai!" all three chorused, nodding as a single unit.

They set out of the village after that, Naruto taking up the lead, Obito in the back, and Mitsuki and Haru walking in the middle with five feet between them.

"Naruto-sensei, what kind of problems has this Ostrich given you before? In the missions office it seemed like you were really stressed out about it," Haru inquired. Naruto let out a groan on frustration, throwing his arms above his head and crossing them. He had a carefree air to him, Mitsuki mused, didn't ever appear to be serious until it was necessary. Maybe that's why she approved of him so much as a sensei, he didn't seem like an authoritative figure.

"Well, when I first got assigned to a mission to recover him, he wasn't really a problem. More of an annoyance, he kept pecking me and my teammate in the head and let me tell you, it hurt like hell," Naruto laughed. Obito stared at his sensei's back, it sounded like the blonde jonin was remembering a happier time, a fond and well missed memory.

"And you managed to get it back then, right?" Mitsuki asked. Her hands were clasped behind her back, fingers weaving and unweaving themselves from her slight anxiety. Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, I mean, he pecked through his rope twice but there were basically no problems. It was when the Godaime assigned me a new mission that I learned he'd escaped again, and this time he'd trained himself. When I started the mission, I thought "okay, Mr. Ostrich escaped again, no biggie". Wrong, Mr. Ostrich, or Condor as he started calling himself, trained himself in the ninja arts and taught himself how to talk. It turned out to be a big problem and he brought me and my team many problems on our mission by joining forces with other animals. In the end, Kotetsu and Izumo, the old gatekeepers back when you guys were kids, they were the ones to capture Condor," Naruto said. Obito furrowed his brow, confusion shining dully in his eyes. This story seemed different than the other one. It seemed to not be as well loved as the last one, and Obito was somewhat curious about why this one was different.

"And the third time?" Haru asked. Naruto laughed, shaking his head as he dropped his arms.

"It was right after Konoha got destroyed by the leader of the former Akatsuki, you guys studied that in school right?" Naruto paused, looking back at his genin. All three nodded, wanting him to continue his story. "Well, I found him during the clean up. He was telling his kids about what he and I went through, and how I would always be there to get in the way of his freedom."

Obito cocked his head to the side, thinking. "But it's true, isn't it?" he asked, causing his sensei to look back at him.

"What's true?" he asked, confused.

"That you'd always be there to get in the way of his freedom. That's what we're doing now, right?" Obito asked. Naruto thought this over, rubbing his chin.

"Huh, I suppose so. I never really thought of it much, I mean, Condor was practically the least of my worries at the time," Naruto reasoned. Mitsuki pouted, somewhat confused and frustrated.

"But Sensei, shouldn't a ninja treat every mission the same?" she asked. Naruto laughed, causing Mitsuki to glare at the blonde man. Who the hell did he think he was laughing at.

"That's true Miki-chan, a ninja should treat each mission with the same level of seriousness. But, I'm a knucklehead. I let my emotions get in the way," Naruto said. To Obito, it sounded like he had a smile on his face but his voice wavered slightly. There was more to his sensei then he let on.

The team traveled through the Land of Fire, catching no sign that the Ostrich was near. It was heading for Sunagakure, in an attempt to finally be free.

They traveled for a long while, until they neared the borders that separate the Land of Fire and the Land of Wing. It was growing hotter, and brighter, Haru had long before put on his sunglasses in an attempt to keep from being blinded.

"I see someone up ahead," Mitsuki said, squinting into the distance as the team ran. Naruto looked back at the young girl, and then back ahead, squinting as well. He could barely see the border, let alone people. How could she see from this far back?

"How many?" he asked.

"Two, females I think. They look short," Mitsuki said. She'd always had excellent vision, she could see things miles off if she put some chakra being her vision. Sometimes Mitsuki wondered if she were secretly related to the Hyuuga's, because she had better vision than Michiru when his Byakugan wasn't activated.

As they ran farther, approaching the border, Mitsuki's claims were confirmed as Naruto spotted two females standing in the short distance. The Sunagakure chuunin. Naruto hastened his team towards the border, running faster towards the other shinobi. Upon reaching it, he found he recognized one of the two girls.

"Ah, Sari-chan," he said greeting the dark haired woman. The chuunin smiled, eyes looking towards the three genin behind him who were breathing deeply through their noses.

"Naruto-sama! It's been too long! I see they gave you a team to teach," she said, grinning broadly at the blonde jonin. Naruto nodded, throwing a hand back to scratch the back of his head.

"Yeah, well. How have you been Sari-chan?" Naruto asked. The three genin behind him looked between him and the dark haired chuunin woman. Who was she? Why was she so familiar with their sensei? And why did she call him 'sama'?

"Good, good. I've been thinking about becoming a jonin, but I dunno. I think I'll talk to Kazekage-sama about teaching at the academy instead," Sari said, giggling when she said the word 'kazekage'. Her partner next to her, a red headed girl a couple years younger, elbowed Sari, looking uncomfortable. "Oh, Naruto-sama, this is my partner, Chinoke." Chinoke bowed in greeting to the Konoha ninja.

"Nice to meet you Chinoke-chan. These are my genin, Mitsuki, Obito, and Haru," Naruto said, stepping back to let the three genin be in view. Sari 'ooh'-ed and leaned closer towards them. Mitsuki stared blankly at her when her eyes passed over, not saying anything to the woman, Haru let out a small greeting, smiling lightly, and Obito just stared at the woman blankly with a short greeting to both women. Sari paused on the young Hatake, staring at him for a few moments before turning to Naruto.

"You're training Kakashi-sama's kid?" she asked. Naruto grinned and nodded.

"Yup, weird ain't it? So have you seen Condor yet?" Naruto asked as he ending the reunion. Sari grew serious, much like her partner beside her.

"A group of genin spotted him running and are tracking him. He has three other ostriches with him and they appear to be his children," Sari said, full in mission mode. Naruto nodded.

"And where are they now?"

"Condor and his family seem to be running towards Suna, we can cut him off by taking this route," Sari said while Chinoke pulled a map out of her pack. The shinobi crowded around the map, listening to Sari as she explained the route to Suna they could take to cut off Condor's pack.

"Alright then, let's get ready to trap this bird," Naruto said, grinning down at the others. With those words said, all six shinobi took off running in hopes of beating the ostrich family to Suna, and bringing it back to Konoha.

* * *

**I know, not my best. Forgive me.**

**Unless I finish cleaning early I won't be posting until sometime on late thursday or Friday.**

**But, seriously, it'll be worth the wait! The action actually starts there!**

**Also, thank you guys so much for the reviews! They mean so much to me!**

**See you next chapter!**

**LOVE YOU LOVEBUCKETS!  
**


	7. Strength and Weakness

**HAPPY NEW YEAR!**

**I posted this right as it turned 2011 for me!**

**sorry for the long wait!**

** I'll get started on the next chapter right away!**

**This has been edited because I didn't thoroughly read through it on here.**

**I had a goal to get it on here before 2011, and I did. Kind of.**

**Now in 2011 I'm reading through it and fixing it.**

**Making sure  
**

**Chapter art is Obito and Mitsuki having an arm wrestling match with Haru refereeing. Mitsuki is grinning, wearing a dark red crop top tank top and baggy black shorts. Haru is wearing a black wife beater and baggy black shorts, and Haru is dressed like a legit Referee. All have no forehead protectors on, instead Mitsuki is wearing a black beanie, Obito is wearing a black hat worn sideways, and Haru is wearing a black visor worn crooked.  
**

* * *

Something was wrong with Mitsuki, Obito could see that as the six shinobi ran through the Land of Wind. She had been off ever since his father had assigned them the mission, and Obito was growing increasingly worried with his female teammate.

It was hot here, sand everywhere with no escape from the sun. In Obito's all black attire, even without the sleeves and long pants legs, it was growing warmer for the silver haired genin. Obito said nothing though, if he couldn't put up with this while he was here, then he wasn't a very good shinobi. What shinobi couldn't undergo a little bit of uncomfortable temperatures for a week?

But heat was building inside Obito's body, his head pounding in the back. He'd deal with it later, probably just thirsty. He grabbed his canteen, fastened onto his pack, and drank a swig of the cool water. He wanted more, so much more, but he didn't know when he'd be able to refill it and he couldn't ask his teammates to share, they had their own supply to worry about. No, a quick gulp would be all for now.

"We're not far from Suna!" Sari said, heading up the group. She and Naruto had taken up the head, with Obito and Chinoke in the back as they kept Haru and Mitsuki in the middle.

"Miki-chan, can you see Sunagakure from here?" Naruto asked the purple haired genin.

"Yeah, I can also see about a kilometer towards the northwest of us, there's a large dust cloud moving towards Suna as well, I think there are shinobi following it," Mitsuki said, her head pivoting around between where Suna was assumed to be and where the dust cloud assumed to be.

"That has to be Condor. Sari-chan, we need to cut them off from Suna by at least 500 meters," Naruto said as the team shifted their direction towards the east.

"Hai, don't worry, I'm sure the team tracking this big bird will keep him from getting too close," Sari said, a smirk could be heard in her voice. The team pushed themselves harder, running faster in attempts to beat the flock of oversized flightless birds.

Mitsuki could feel panic settle into her belly, unsettling it and making it difficult to keep her breathing even. Why was the mission about a stupid bird? She would have asked for anything else, anything. But why birds? She could see them running, they were fast and there were a lot. Mitsuki could count at least four, and the ninja team behind them were struggling to keep up.

Damn it!

She was going to have an anxiety attack on this mission, she just knew it. Damn the Hokage, who cares how nice he was and that he didn't know about her fear of birds when he assigned it, stupid bird mission! Only Michiru knew she held a phobia for birds, especially large ones, but she never expected to have to be put up against them.

"Chinoke! Run ahead to the other genin team, tell them we're on our way," Sari yelled back to her red haired partner. The chuunin woman grunted out an affirmation before running ahead on chakra charged feet.

Now with it only the five of them, they continued on in silence and ran towards their destination. Haru was beginning to feel light headed from the physical exertion, he'd never run so much before in one sitting. They literally been running since they'd left Konoha, and had taken very few, very short breaks. Haru wasn't complaining though, he needed to learn how to get his stamina up. He didn't want to appear to be pathetic when compared to Mitsuki and Obito.

They reached their destination, exactly 500 meters from Sunagakure. Condor and his flock were still a hundred and fifty meters off, allowing the genin a small breather as the prepared to trap the large bird.

"Miki-chan, what kind of jutsu do you use? Any fire type?" Sari asked, her eyes focused on the approaching target. Mitsuki nodded.

"Yeah, I know how to use a grand fireball jutsu. What do you need me to do?" Mitsuki asked.

"Alright, Condor is an Ostrich, a really big bird, an animal. As an animal, he'll have animal insticts that he'll want to act on. If you can get that fireball up in the right amount of time we can startle Condor and his flock. It won't matter how much he's trained himself, animals are scared of fire and he and his kids will freak out from the flames. They'll be confused and the rest of your team and I will work on gathering them. Naruto-sama, do you have the bridles and ropes?" Sari asked. Naruto pulled a series or ropes and leather harnesses from his pack, tossing them to the dark haired kunoichi while keeping one set for himself.

"Alright, easy plan yeah? Hopefully nothing will go wrong. Condor has ninja skills right?" she asked, handing a harness and rope each to both Haru and Obito.

"Right, I'll take down Condor. Guys be careful, I don't know what he's told his kids or trained them, so stay on your guard," Naruto said. All three genin nodded. "Alright, he's approaching now, Mitsuki, get ready." Mitsuki nodded, fear bubbling in her stomach as she made her hand signs.

'_Horse, tiger, ram, monkey, boar, horse, tiger! Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!'_

Mitsuki held her eyes on the ostrich, now merely twenty-five meters from them. The site of it frightened her, it looked so harsh. The mean glint in its tiny eyes, those weird pink ribbons on its neck, its eyes were dead set on her sensei as he ran forward, and he was right beside Mitsuki with his harness. The ostrich was getting closer and closer, but she didn't want to give them time to run off on fear, just a little closer.

"Now Mitsuki," Naruto said, poised to capture. Using the chakra she'd compressed in her belly, churning flames that moved with her fear, Mitsuki exhaled a large ball of fire that was taller than even Naruto. Mitsuki couldn't see around it, but she did hear the sound of a rather….odd yell after Naruto leaped over her fireball. Odd was the only way she could describe it, it was deep, yet sounded like a witches cackle.

**-I wish there were shorter little breaks-**

Obito realized he hated ostriches. Hated them a lot. Especially this one he was trying to take down. Once Mitsuki had done her jutsu, impressive as it was, Obito took on the ostrich in the back, trying to hook an arm around its neck. His plan was to stop its head first, more worried about his beak than anything, and get the bridle on it. What Obito didn't take into account was the Ostrich kicking him in the stomach.

Pain radiated from Obito's gut, knocking the breath out of the young man. But instead of crumpling down like a weakling, Obito straightened himself and sent a kick at the ostriches knees. The ostrich let out a yelp, shrill and awkward, and bent itself forward, lowering itself to Obito. The silver-haired genin took this as his chance and jumped on top of the ostrich. The ostrich didn't know what to do as Obito held his legs tight around the bird's body, crossing his legs in front of it so that he wouldn't slide off. The ostrich then decided to run.

"Get off me! I am not a stupid horse!" the ostrich yelled, it's bouncy running making it difficult for Obito to stay on. Obito held tight though, using one arm to wrap around the ostrich's neck, forcing it to stop. He figured this could be easy, it reacted like a horse. It wouldn't go anywhere as long as Obito held his head in the air. Now all Obito had to do was get the bridle onto its head. Suddenly a yellow headed person was beside him, standing back away from the ostrich.

"Hey, grab its neck! I need to get the bridle onto it!" Obito said, as the ostrich continued to make jerky movements.

"How dare you attempt to put that on me! I am not your slave! Let me go so that I can see you!" the ostrich wailed, head somewhat flailing as Obito pulled back tighter with his arm. The blonde haired genin nodded towards Obito, coming closer to the large land bird. The genin grabbed at the birds neck, wrapping his hands around it and holding tight as it tried to jerk away. Obito took the lack of movement as an opportunity and slipped the bridle onto its head.

Haru was having a harder time with his Ostrich, who had started kicking at him the minute he was in distance. This one liked to lash out when it was panicked. Haru couldn't get near it without it harming him. He was trying to think of a way to stop it from kicking his legs, but couldn't figure out a way without getting his head kicked in.

"Need a help?" a feminine voice asked. Haru turned his head slightly, finding a brunette kunoichi standing at the ready, her eyes focused on the kick happy ostrich.

"It would be greatly appreciated," Haru said, handing the girl one end of the rope he was carrying. "We need to get his legs bound, or at least trip it so that I can fasten the bridle on." The girl nodded.

"Sounds simple enough. On your count?"

"Three, two, one." Once the number was out of Haru's mouth, both genin rushed forward with the rope taut between them. Haru thought it would work, the ostrich however, thought otherwise. It leaped up over the rope, kicking both the girl and Haru in a spinning kick.

"I won't be taken down so easily by children, even if they are Naruto's chicks," the ostrich stated in a raspy, oddly deep voice. Haru was taken aback, he'd never seen or heard a bird talk to him before. It was weird.

"Shut up! Gah you guys are so freaking annoying! Give it a rest already!" the girl said, racing towards the ostrich again. She still held the rope tightly in her fist as she raced towards the bird. She seemed to be a tad temperamental to Haru, foolhardy as she rushed in without looking towards the ostrich's leg that was ready to kick.

Thinking quickly Haru ran and jumped in front of the girl, forcing her back before he ducked the ostrich's kick. Before it could get a chance to kick again, Haru motioned for the girl to run around the Ostrich, wrapping the rope around its legs.

The kunoichi did so, while the ostrich was still turning back towards the duo, and the rope made it's way around the legs. Haru waited for the right moment and pulled hard on the rope, bringing the giant bird's knees together and making it lose its balance as he pulled again, knocking it over. Once on the ground, the girl climbed on top of the bird, holding it's neck down while preventing it from standing. Haru used the opportunity to slip the bridle around the ostrich's head.

"How dare you! I will not be treated like an animal!" the ostrich yelled, struggling to get up.

"I hate to break it to you, Ostrich-san, but you are an animal," Haru said, grinning down at the bird as it glared up at him.

Mitsuki stood back, watching everything. Her teammates had needed help from the sand genin, only two helped out. She did nothing to help them, she was a coward. Why didn't she help? She could see they needed help, yet she stood there like an idiot. She was pathetic, a horrible kunoichi.

Her sensei had gotten his ostrich, Condor, down with a few shadow clones. It wasn't much of a fight, the ostrich looked pretty old. But it had a certain gleam in its eyes, like it truly hated Naruto.

Meanwhile Sari looked like she was toying with her Ostrich, fighting it and letting it think it won before coming down on it. Chinoke had to yell at her partner to hurry up before Sari actually did anything.

Once the ostriches were all gathered, all four of them, the lead one spoke, addressing Naruto.

"Naruto-kun, why do you keep getting in the way of my freedom. I'm old, let me be free," Condor said, pulling against Naruto's rope. Mitsuki stood close by her sensei, her eyes cast down on the sand below her. If she didn't look at it, she wouldn't have to be scared. It was just a parson talking.

"You don't belong here Condor, you could get yourself hurt. Besides, you need to return home. With your family," Naruto said.

"My family deserves freedom, they were born free," Condor said angrily. Obito watched the exchange. Though Condor was very mean looking and pretty angry, he didn't seem up for the fight. His three children on the other hand, were a different story. They pulled and fought with them, though let Condor do the talking.

Obito barely had the strength to keep holding on. The pounding in the back of his head was growing stronger, louder, harsher. He could barely focus. With a free hand, Obito rubbed his face, trying to regain some of his focus.

"Condor-san, please, you need to go home. If you're out here, it won't be long before some non ninja town discovers you and tries to put you and your family into some sort of circus show," Haru said, pleading with the ostrich.

"Father, what's a circus?" queried one ostrich, a girl, being held in place by Sari.

"A circus is a place for human to view animals doing tricks for their own amusement. A flock of talking Ostriches is sure to be a big money maker for humans," Haru explained. A silence fell over the birds as they shuffled about.

"If what you say is true, then we'd always be running, never be free?" Condor asked. Naruto shook his head.

"You were free back home, you could do what you wanted. They must be pretty lenient if you keep being able to get out," Naruto said. Mitsuki took a chance and looked up at the ostrich her sensei was talking too, but needed to look away immediately because he still looked so menacing. Mitsuki chose instead to look to her teammates, Haru and Obito. Maybe they could keep her from freaking out over these giant monstrosities.

Unfortunately, upon looking towards the two boys, Mitsuki found that they weren't looking so hot. Well, actually, that was quite the opposite for Obito. He looked insanely hot, as if someone had lit a fire inside him. He was sweating, he looked tired and in pain, and his skin had a faint pinkish tinge. Dehydrated? But she'd seen him drinking from his canteen a few times, maybe he didn't get enough. Haru wasn't overheated though, he just looked completely worn out. In the back of Mitsuki's mind she remembered that Haru didn't have a very high level of stamina. She bit her lip, how could she do that to her partner? Letting him run all that way and just stand back and watch while he tried to take down an ostrich.

Mitsuki's black eyes were locked on her teammates, watching for any signs of weakness that could cause them to pass out. Obito was trying to cover his up, attempting to keep his face neutral even though Mitsuki could see he was breathing deep through his nose, and his left eye was twitching with pain that probably indicated a headache. Mitsuki frowned slightly, her obsidian focused on the silver haired boy. He was going to pass out, she could feel it in her gut.

Looking over to Haru, she saw that he was no worse than Obito, just extremely exhausted and trying to play tough. He would pass out too. What would they do if they both passed out? Suna was only 200 meters from here, she could easily carry one of them there. Good thing about her training as hard as she did, she could shoulder a lot of weight and still run, but she couldn't shoulder two. One of those Suna genin would have to get one.

The pounding in Obito's head was drowning out all sound and focus from Obito. He tried to pay attention to Naruto and Condor, but he just couldn't hear them. What was going on? Obito held onto the rope holding his twitching ostrich, refusing to let go in his semi-weakened state. His hand was sweating though,, making the thick rope seem slippery in his tight grip.

Was it always so fuzzy around the edges of his vision? A genjutsu? What was that way to release a genjutsu? Obito's head seemed to be made of rocks, rocks pounding and colliding against each other inside his mind, making it impossible for him to hear or focus on anything. His breathing was coming in short takes, he was forcing himself to breathe through his nose, so it wouldn't be obvious that he wasn't appearing to be weak.

The fuzziness was growing, and his vision was more fuzzy than clear now. His knees were weak, his hands were slipping down the rope slowly. In the back of his mind, it registered that something had landed against his legs, and now something was moving behind him. Fuzziness was overtaking his vision, he could only see large blobs of color. It was so hot. Something black and white was moving towards him, he guessed Mitsuki when he saw the small flash of her brilliant purple hair. Who was she going to? What was she doing?

Obito was trying to turn around when his legs gave out on him, and he fell onto a small, strong body. The only thing reaching his mind was one thing:

"Obito! ?"

* * *

**THAT'S IT!**

**Now it's been edited for 2011.**

**Review to let me know how you feel!**

**Oh, and for the ones that did review, thank you so much!**

**Hy****pnotic flames - I hope you liked Condor, it didn't showcase him too much though. :/**

**HelpMeI'mInvisible - Thank you for all your reviews! They made me smile. I'm glad my OC's caught your eye**

**Doiti Etok - Thanks, I like my characters defined too. :) And as for those characters, we shall see. -strokes imaginary beard sneakily- It's going to focus a lot on the OC's, and they are pretty curious. It'll go to their curiosity whenever they feel bored or something. I want to establish them as their own people... who are naturally curious about their sensei.**

**Kaname Kuran is my drug xo - Okay, one, love your name, too bad I'm a Zero girl ;) And we might see more of Kakashi in the future, but he is a pretty busy guy with, you know, the whole Hokage thing. :P And also, I feel accomplished that my story is Coyote Ugly, it gives it character. :D  
**

**I'll get started on the next one now!**

**LOVE YOU LOVEBUCKETS!**


	8. Sunagakure Hospitality

**HI HI!**

**Okay, so I haven't posted since January first and I feel really cruddy about it.**

**Like, seriously.**

**But at least I came back to it!**

**I'm sorry I just up and dropped on the seventh chapter, I made this one extra long to try to make up for it!**

**4,300 words!**

**That's a good 1000 words longer than the others!**

**Enjoy it!**

**Okay, this chapter's chapter art is Mitsuki in a nurses outfit standing domineeringly over a frightened Naruto whilst holding a large needle in her hand. Both Obito and Haru who are both standing in the background and holding their arms.**

* * *

Haru did not know where he was when he first woke up. His dark blue eyes opened to find a sand colored ceiling, sand colored? Haru tried to sit up, but as soon as he did, his muscles started screaming. Holy Hokage, what was wrong with him? His muscles felt like they were ripping apart strand by strand.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a voice said. An older, somewhat sassy sounding voice that startled Haru from his thoughts. He looked to his right, where a woman stood, leaning against the wall in a bored fashion. She had dark teal eyes, staring straight at Haru with an amused expression on her face. She had dark blonde hair pulled back into four pig tails around her head.

"Where are my teammates?" Haru asked. His voice surprised him, raspy and sounding like it hadn't been used for a while. The woman nodded her head in a direction that Haru could only decipher as behind him. Haru turned his head, his neck cracking its joints along the way, to find Obito in a bed next to him, asleep on his back with IV's attached to him. He looked down and found Mitsuki, resting in a large chair set right between their two beds. She had curled in upon herself, using her knees and forearms as a pillow. The light from behind Obito's bed shone down on his female teammate, giving her a slightly innocent look she didn't normally have.

"She hasn't left the room since you guys were entered in here. You and your teammate both passed out in the desert," the woman said, her eyes watching as Haru stared at his female teammate.

"What happened?" Haru asked voice still raspy.

"There's a water pitcher on your left side table," the woman stated. Haru tore his gaze from his teammate to look at the woman, than back around to look at the side table. True to the woman's word, there was a pitcher of water on the table as well as two empty glasses and one half empty glass.

Carefully, Haru pushed himself up, his body protesting in response. Haru clenched his eyes shut from the pain, his mouth set into a firm grimace as he sat upright.

"You passed out from over-exertion; you pushed your body too hard. Your teammate passed out from dehydration and overheating; you guys wear a lot of black…" the woman said. Haru shakily poured himself a glass, his arms tired as hell. He hadn't felt like this since Naruto's first taijutsu training.

"It suits us. Who are you anyway?" Haru asked once he had set the pitcher back down. His dark blue eyes were focused on her now as he drank slowly from his glass.

"Temari, I've been assigned by Kazekage-sama and your sensei to keep watch over you three while they do "business". You're in the Sunagakure hospital," Temari said, sounding annoyed. Haru raised an eyebrow at the blonde woman. Something told him that this woman didn't believe that his sensei and the Kazekage were talking business. If not, what were they doing? An illicit inter-village affair? No, that was crazy. That was something his cousin would think of, crazed romanticized woman.

"Nice to meet you Temari-san, my name is Yamashiro Haru. Um, how long have my teammate and I been unconscious?" Haru asked inquisitively. Haru took another drink of water, emptying the glass, before setting it shakily down on the table.

"You? Only a day, your teammate however has been coming in and out of consciousness, I think it's the fever. Don't worry though, your female teammate has been watching over you guys nonstop," Temari said, her teal eyes glancing over to the sleeping kunoichi. She'd been awake up until two hours ago, when Temari slipped a small sleeping pill into her water. She'll be asleep for the next five to seven hours.

Haru once again turned his focus back onto the purple haired girl. He cared deeply for his female comrade, he was the closest thing Haru had to a best friend, and she was what Haru wanted to be. She was strong, skilled, and able to take charge. She was also caring, though didn't really show it that often. She proved it now by staying by her teammates' bedside while they were ill. She could have been out exploring Suna or training, but instead she was here, watching over them.

"How long has she been asleep?" Haru asked, looking back to Temari.

"Two hours. I would move her to a bed, but the only one is in another room. I don't think she'd react too well if she woke up away from you guys," Temari shrugged. Haru hummed, focusing his attention onto his hands. One was bandaged, probably a rope burn from that ostrich.

_Ostrich…_

Haru looked over at Temari, eyes wide. "Temari-san, what happened with the ostriches, the ones my teammate and I were holding when we passed out?" he asked. Again, Temari shrugged.

"No idea, I think they ran off. Your sensei told the Suna genin not to go after those two. Don't ask me why, because I don't know," Temari said. Silence followed her words. Haru clenched his fists, his skin tightening annoyingly on his bandaged hand. He'd screwed up the mission, let go of one of the targets and then proved just how weak he was by passing out.

Suddenly, drawing him from his thoughts, a sound that reminded Haru of a hungry dog came from his left. He looked up at Obito, who had his hands pressed against his head, heel of his palms pressed against his eyes. He seemed in pain.

"Obito-kun, are you alright?" Haru asked, worriedly looking at his friend. Obito stopped pressing his hands into his eyes, removing them to look over at the brunette. He looked confused.

"Haru-san? Where are we? Why do I feel like I've been dropped from one of the Hokage Mountain faces?" he asked, his dark grey eyes boring into Haru's cerulean ones.

"We're in the Suna Hospital. We both passed out, you were dehydrated and overheated," Haru explained. He carefully moved his body, crossing his legs under the covers. He was shirtless, his two shirts and mesh on a lower shelf of the table. As far as he could tell, he was still wearing his shorts. Obito stared at Haru for a second, before attempting to run his right hand though his hair, his right arm which was attached to the IV. Upon finding the hindrance, Obito laid there, just staring from his arm to the IV while Haru poured him a glass of water.

"Here, drink this," Haru said, gingerly reaching over to Obito. The silver-haired genin stared at the glass for a short while before pushing himself up.

"Where's Mitsuki-san?" he asked, voice heavy from sleep. Haru nodded his head towards where Mitsuki was sleeping, curled up like a cat in her chair. Obito took the glass of water, eyes on Mitsuki as he drained the glass.

Obito's mind was hazy, no longer pounding, but feeling as though he'd been suffocated and couldn't process things clearly. Where were his clothes? Wait, no, he still had his shorts, well where were his shirts?

Obito looked to where Haru had nodded, finding their female teammate asleep in a chair. In a chair? What idiot lets a twelve year old girl sleep in a chair? The water he'd just downed felt good on his sandpapery tongue.

"Why is she in a chair?" he asked, looking over to the blonde woman. He remembered her somewhat, standing there, talking with Mitsuki from earlier on. He didn't know if that was real or not, they were just short little blips between his little black trips into unconsciousness.

"No other beds in here, you both need them and she'd flip out if she woke up away from you guys," she said boredly, not moving from her spot on the wall. Obito frowned slightly, his face going back to its normal blank mask. Obito could feel the weakness in his body, the sign that his body had literally gone onto attack when he didn't take care of it. But that didn't really matter right now, Obito tried to get up, his arms, back, everything shaking as he slid his legs out of bed.

"You shouldn't get up," the blonde woman said, pushing herself up off the wall. Obito ignored her.

He was awake, and his teammate was only going to hurt herself if she continued sleeping like that, so why not let her sleep in the bed he didn't need. If he needed to, he'd just sit in the chair.

"Obito-kun, you passed out from dehydration, you should stay in bed," Haru said, moving to get up.

Haru knew what his friend was thinking, they were both awake, and they could easily give the beds to Mitsuki so that she wouldn't hurt her back and neck sleeping like that.

"Obito-kun, you look like you're about to pass out, you stay in bed, I'll give Mitsuki-chan my bed," Haru said. He placed his hands firmly onto the mattress, to support himself as he slid his feet off the bed. His muscles were protesting every movement, wanting him to stop, but he needed to keep moving. That's how he built up stamina, you keep going even if your body doesn't want to, keep going until you literally pass out. The passing out thing might not be the best idea, but he wanted to build up his stamina and strength, to be like Mitsuki.

"Both of you are staying in bed until you recover. I'm not going to have some hyper blonde yell at me for not taking care of his idiotic students," Temari said, walking forward and pulling Haru back down on the bed before going over and doing the same to Obito.

Haru's muscles screamed in relief from being able to relax back against the bed, something Haru didn't want to do but his body did anyway.

"Why not? I can sit in the chair if Naruto-sensei doesn't want me to move, but Mitsuki's going to hurt her back sleeping like that," Haru argued, trying to sit back up. He lay back down once he saw the glare Temari shot at him.

"She's a ninja, she'll be fine," she said, pouring more water into two of the glasses. The two sat in silence after that, drinking their water as they watched Mitsuki sleep. They said nothing, both reflecting on why they were being weak. They didn't argue with Temari, because one, they weren't much for fighting (that was Mitsuki's forte), and two, she was kind of intimidating.

So they sat there for a good hour, occasionally talking, Haru checking out his hand would, and Obito drinking a lot of water. Mitsuki stayed asleep, occasionally mumbling something unintelligible. Haru wondered how she was sleeping like that, she looked somewhat comfortable. Temari was studying her nails when the door finally opened.

"Oi, Temari, how're my kids?" a voice asked, walking into the room. Haru jumped; surprised by the new person entering, while Obito just looked up in a disinterested fashion. It was Naruto, walking in grinning like a fool, with a red headed man behind him. Obito realized, recognizing the kanji for love on the man's forehead, that it was the Kazekage.

"The boys woke up, the girl fell asleep, and I'm gone. I have things to do. Kazekage-sama," Temari said, pushing herself out the door, bowing at the young Kage on her way.

"I don't think she enjoyed spending time with my genin…" Naruto mused, leaning back out the door to look at the blonde.

"Naruto," the Kazekage said.

"Right, right, going in. You're a downer you know that Gaara?" Naruto said, walking into the room. The blonde Jounin grinned upon seeing his two invalids awake and staring at him blankly. "Hey guys, how ya feeling?"

Obito nodded once, his dark gray eyes looking to the Kazekage before going back to his Sensei. Haru on the other hand, was somewhat flustered.

"I-I'm fine, I uh, it's a pleasure to be here Kazekage-Sama," he stuttered out, bowing somewhat despite being stuck in the bed. Naruto stared at his genin, the turned to the Kazekage.

"See what you do to my kids? Mr. High and Mighty Kage," Naruto teased, ruffling up the Kazekage's hair. The Kazekage made no attempt to move away, or to scold Naruto, merely glared at the blonde man.

"Naruto, just because you're my friend, it doesn't mean that you're allowed to poke fun at me," he said evenly. Naruto made a disgruntled face, retracting his hand as he mumbled something about "Gaara…. No fun… stuck up his…" The Kazekage glared at Naruto, who turned his focus back onto his genin. Haru stared at his sensei in shock; he was being so familiar with the Kazekage!

"So, you two are awake… and Miki-chan's asleep. Oh well, she needs it. You two, while we lost the two younger male ostriches when they passed out, we managed to keep Condor and the female, she didn't want to leave her father, and Condor, well, I had a hold on him," Naruto said, walking into the room. He walked between both of their bed's being careful of Mitsuki, while the Kazekage was standing off by the door.

"When are we going after them?" Obito asked, sitting up now that Temari wasn't in the room to push him back down. Naruto shook his head, looking shockingly cavalier about the entire thing.

"Nope, Condor requested we let them leave, besides, out mission was only to recover Condor. The female only wanted to stay with Condor," Naruto said. He turned towards the two of them, his bright eyes looking carefully over the genin. "What about you guys? Are you alright?" Haru nodded. He was fine, except for the soreness in his muscles, but that would fade away after a while. He was okay.

"Yeah, I'm good, just sore," he replied.

"I'm okay," Obito said, though he still looked tired. Naruto nodded, not looking at either of his students.

"Good, good, well then, I just have one thing to say. YOU IDIOTS!" Naruto yelled, punching the two boys on top of their heads. "WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU GUYS WEREN'T FEELING WELL? DO YOU KNOW WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED?" Haru stared up at his sensei shocked as he held the top of his throbbing head. Had he really just hit them like that?

"Naruto-sensei?" Obito questioned, hand on top of his head. The blonde Jounin sighed, placing his fists on his hips.

"You two are idiots, why didn't you just say you were tired or too hot? What, are you too proud to ask for help or show weakness?" Naruto said, looking at them. Haru had to turn away. No, he wasn't too proud. He just didn't want to be seen as the weakest, having to make everyone wait on him. He didn't want to be weak; he wanted to be strong like Mitsuki and Obito.

Obito, on the other hand, felt ashamed. He had been too proud, too proud to rely on others. He could work well with his comrades, and would never leave them, but when it came down to the actual relying on them? He wouldn't do that, it showed weakness. And he didn't want to be weak, the son of the great Hatake Kakashi, grandson of the greater still Hatake Sakumo; he couldn't afford to be weak without being looked down on.

"Sorry Naruto-sensei," Obito said, looking down. His hands were fisted tight, the skin whitening across his knuckles as anger, guilt, and hate flooded through his body.

"I'm sorry sensei," Haru said, voice filled with apologies. Naruto sighed, sitting down on the mattress. Haru couldn't help but feel as if he'd disappointed his sensei, he never wanted that. He felt like scum, worse than scum, like the crud you find between your toes. Haru couldn't look his sensei in the eye.

"Guys, I know you want to appear strong, but if you don't learn to ask your friends for help, or for a break every now and again, you'll only end up driving yourself into a stress induced death," Naruto said, looking back and forth at each of them, noting that neither boy was willing to look the blonde in the eye.

"Nn, Baka-sensei, shut up," mumbled a small voice from behind the sensei. Haru and Obito both looked up towards Mitsuki. Haru thought that she would be out for a few more hours, due to whatever Temari had slipped her to make her go to sleep, but there she was, uncurled from herself and rubbing her eyes from sleep.

Mitsuki's face felt numb as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Wait, wait a second, sleep? When the hell had she fallen asleep? She remembered talking to Temari about something; she gave her a glass of water… The water! That conniving bitch! She drugged Mitsuki!

"Where's Temari? I'm going to kill her," Mitsuki growled, rubbing her face. She still couldn't feel it, was this a problem? Probably… Naruto laughed, reaching over to ruffle Mitsuki's, for once, uncovered purple hair. This action earned a glare from the young kunoichi, who in turn pushed the man's hand away lazily, a side effect from the drug.

"Miki-chan, you remember Gaara don't you?" Naruto asked, nodding over to the red head, who stood off to the side with a blank expression. Mitsuki looked over to the important man, large black eyes staring dismissively. She'd met him earlier, soon after arriving to Suna. He was quiet…

"Hai, Konnichiwa Kazekage-sama. I'm going to kill that conniving bitch you call a sister. She drugged me," Mitsuki said, stretching her legs out in front of her, toes pointed to the wall between her teammates bed. The Kazekage said nothing, just looked to all three genin impassively.

"Miki-chan, go back to sleep, Obito-kun and Haru-kun are fine," Naruto said, patting the girl's purple hair down. She made another half-assed attempt to shove his hand away, glaring all the while at her sensei.

"You're a jerk Naruto-sensei," she said. Mitsuki turned her black eyes from her blonde sensei, and looked to the beds her teammates were supposed to be sleeping. It took her a second or two to process that they were sitting up in their beds, looking at _her _with worry_._

Seriously? They had the bloody gall to look at_ her_ like that after they _both_ passed out?

"What the hell are you two staring at? You two are the most idiotic people I've ever met! If I wasn't so fucking tired I'd kill you!" she snapped at them, a hissing spark of fury in her black eyes. Haru flinched a bit in surprise, shocked that instead of the worry she'd been showing by not leaving their bedsides she chose to react to them with anger.

Obito however was not surprised, he just frowned a bit more before his face melted back into a blank mask.

"All right Miki-chan, I think they get the point. Now, let's go, now that you know they're fine you can go get some sleep in your room. And clean up because honestly, you really stink for a girl," Naruto said, grinning largely as he fanned his nose. He sounded like he was joking, but Mitsuki being the girl that she was felt those words cut through her.

Mitsuki's entire face went as red as the Kazekage's hair, who actually looked towards his blonde friend like he was an idiot. Well, not like he was an idiot, Gaara had always believed that Uzumaki Naruto was an idiot despite being a great ninja and a greater still person.

Without saying a word, which was rather unusual, Mitsuki got up from the chair and walked out slowly. She was trying not to fall over because of the drugs in her system, but she sure as hell wasn't going to stay in that room with him after her insulted her like that, and right in front of the kaze-freaking-kage.

Obito watched as his purple haired teammate left the room, and looked towards his sensei with slight contempt. Who told a girl, in a room full of boys, that she stunk?

Haru pressed a hand over his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Sensei, you really are an idiot."

**-break-break-break-break-break-break-break-break-**

Walked, slowly, out of the Hospital, Mitsuki made her way to where she vaguely remembered was the house where Naruto-sensei had said they'd be staying. The Hokage house.

Mitsuki trudged along, her feet barely dragging the ground as she tried to get her mind to focus enough to get to where she was staying. But in this heat, and in her clothing, despite the barely there shirt, the long sleeved mesh was making it extremely hot.

Mitsuki got to the middle of a street, a very busy street full of shops and shoppers, when she stopped. She didn't remember coming this way. Damn, now she was lost. Mitsuki looked around, her purple hair swaying slightly behind her ears, still uncovered. She could have been mistaken for a Suna citizen had it not been for the sandals on her feet, they held a small Konoha symbol on the sides. Her forehead protector was in her back pocket, the black cloth would only make her head sweat even more, and she didn't want to sweat, and stink, more than she already did.

She couldn't believe that her sensei would say something like that to a girl. A twelve year old girl who would want to be extra careful with her appearance and hygiene while spending time with so many boys. Her sensei was the biggest idiot she knew, and she had spent a fair amount of time with Tatsuki.

Sighing to herself, she turned her face up towards the sun, letting its warm rays shine down on her pale face. She'll find her way eventually. She'd just take her time doing it.

"Hi," a voice said. Mitsuki wasn't sure if it was just the sound of another shopper greeting another, or someone greeting her, but she felt the urge to look towards the source of the words. Directly in front of her was a boy, around twelve, with black hair and brown eyes. He was smiling as if he'd discovered his next source of amusement.

Mitsuki looked at him with mild annoyance, her eyes quickly flashing towards the Suna headband around his neck.

"You don't remember me do you? I'm Usabarashi; I was part of the genin team that helped out your team. I carried back the brunette boy," he said, smiling still at her. Mitsuki blinked once at him tiredly. So, what did he want with her?

"Good for you. Now what do you want?" she asked blankly. She really didn't want to deal with some Suna brat. Usabarashi laughed slightly.

"You looked lost; I thought I'd help you find where you were going. You just came from the hospital right? Where your teammates were?" he asked. He gestured slightly towards the direction she came from. Mitsuki blinked at him once, and began to walk away. Slowly. Damn these drugs. "Hey wait a second!"

Usabarashi didn't grab her, which Mitsuki actually kind of expected he would do, but instead walked to join her, keeping up her pace. That actually wasn't hard to do, since she was moving at sloth pace. She didn't acknowledge him walking beside her, just kept walking aimlessly.

"You're actually walking the right way, but if you want to get to the Kazekage house without circling around the village, we need to take a right at that Suna Dango shop."

Mitsuki didn't answer him, didn't even look at him, but she still took the right at the Dango shop. Hey, if he got her back to the Kage house, then she'd say thanks before going inside.

Usabarashi led her through Suna, while not forcing her or turning her to go, just tips to help her through the village. Mitsuki actually didn't mind him walking beside her. He kind of reminded her of Michiru, except Michiru was familiar enough with her to have his arm over her shoulder. Both of them didn't push or pull her anywhere, just let her walk and gave tips to where she should go. Not telling her where to go and making her feel like a child.

Mitsuki smiled slightly as the Kazekage house came into view.

Upon reaching the doorstep, Usabarashi stopped a few feet away, and Mitsuki turned to face him, standing on the doorstep and looking straight at him. Before she could say thanks, he spoke first.

"Here you are. I'll see you around sometime, yeah?" he said, smiling slightly. Mitsuki noticed he had a weird smile, a half smile. It seemed like he meant it fully too… strange…. Mitsuki shrugged at him.

"Dunno, depends. Thanks for getting me here," she said. He nodded, still smiling that half grin. It looked kind of stupid the longer he smiled at her. What the fuck was he smiling at?

Without saying another word, Mitsuki turned and opened the door, leaving the guy out there before going upstairs to the room she'd been pointed out was hers for the stay here, and passing out.

* * *

**Soooo...**

**Was it worth the wait?**

**I know it wasn't, it was a month and a half wait. **

**Stupid wannabe author...**

**Okay, so who liked me bringing in Gaara and Temari?**

**Who thinks that Usabarashi is kind of weird?**

**Please let me know what you think?**

**I don't deserve it after the wait, but hey, I'll answer them!**

**Now for last chapter's reviews:**

**anonymouss: Um, okay, thank you for the input. I'm sorry I scared you off with the names. Admittedly, though, giving Naruto Kakashi's son to train isn't very original, nor is giving him the name Obito... I just thought it would be nice, Kakashi trained by Naruto's dad, Naruto training Kakashi's son. It's like a little cycle. :)**

**Doiti Etok: Aw, yay, you came back and reviewed again! I like you! Sorry for the wait, I hope this chapter is to your liking oh blessed multiple reviewer! :)**

**hypnotic flames: O.O Another multiple reviewer? I feel so loved! -dances with glee!- I'm glad you thought I portrayed Condor nicely, that made me smile! And as for Mitsuki's phobia, well, we'll definately be seeing it more in the future. ;)**

**Bookworm73: No my dear reviewer, you are great! Thanks for reading! :)**


	9. Training Day

**Yes, I wrote more. Shocking, I know.**

**I didn't want to drop the story.**

**I really like this story, it's the only story I've ever come back to.**

**That's kind of sad if you think about it…**

**Anyway, Happy Valentine's Day since a majority of this was actually written on the Day of Love.**

**Some was the day after...  
**

**Not that this chapter has anything to do with love or anything…**

**If it seems weird, then my bad, I've got a cold…**

**This chapter's art is Naruto treating his team to ramen, Mitsuki is arguing with Naruto, Obito is eating, and Haru is reading a book.

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**

"Naruto-sensei, you apologized to Mitsuki-chan right? After telling her about training?" Haru asked, sitting on a stone over looking a small cliff. He, Obito, and Naruto had been waiting there for the better half of an hour, waiting for the female member of their squad to appear. Neither he or Obito had seen the girl since she'd walked out of the hospital, where they'd been released from just over an hour ago.

"I said Sorry, man, girls always take everything I say the wrong way," Naruto griped, crossing his arms behind his head. Obito stared at his childish sensei from the base of one of three wind stricken trees the trio had gathered beneath.

"You told her where training was… right, Sensei?" Obito asked slowly. His grey eyes watched as Naruto froze on the spot, before slumping over.

"Kuso…" he whined, looking somewhat pathetic. Both male genin stared at their Jounin sensei as the same thought went through their head.

'_Idiot…'_

"All right, I'll go find her then," Naruto said. Haru sighed at the blonde Jounin and slid his sunglasses higher up on his face.

Sometimes he actually wondered if he really was the smartest person on the team, sure, Obito was one of the best in the class, when it came to everything. But for the mental stuff? Haru had everyone in there eating his dust, and still managed to help them with it. And what he couldn't teach them, well, there were other things their class did to prevent anyone from flunking out.

As Naruto began to walk away, the sound of yelling reached Obito and Haru's ears, coming from the exact opposite direction that Naruto was going.

"Sensei!" Haru called to the blonde. Naruto looked towards his male students, who were both standing and staring off into the distance. That's when Naruto heard the yelling as well.

"WILL YOU STOP FOLLOWING ME ALREADY?" a familiar voice shrieked.

Mitsuki's form became apparent in the high contrast of the bright sun, and she looked mad. There was someone else walking somewhat behind her, not yelling but a faint murmur caught in Obito's slightly sensitive ears.

"THEY'RE RIGHT THERE! NOW GO AWAY!" Mitsuki shrieked once more, storming over to her teammates. She had a look of absolute fury burning in her eyes, but the one who the fury was directed towards didn't seem at all frightened by it, no, if anything the boy was amused by it.

"Are you sure that's them? People could be impersonating them until I leave and then they'll kidnap you and you'll never be heard from again," the boy said, walking closer by Mitsuki.

"If you do not SHUT THE HELL UP and leave already, I'm going to send you flying!" Mitsuki snarled, stomping towards her teammates.

"That doesn't sound so bad, I've always wondered what it was like to fly-"

"USABARASHI! SHUT UP!"

Watching the exchange between his student and the Suna Nin, Naruto began to laugh. A lot. So much in fact, that it stole all three of his genins' attention from the fight to him.

"Sensei….what are you laughing at?" Haru asked. He pushed his sunglasses higher up on the bridge of his nose. But Naruto kept laughing still, pointing towards the frowning purple haired kunoichi and her grinning annoyance.

"Hi Naruto-sama, nice to see ya again. Sensei had me bring Mitsuki-chan to your training. You forgot to tell her where it was," Usabarashi said, grinning widely at the laughing blonde Jounin.

"So he sent you? Oh man!" Naruto doubled over, laughing even harder. The Suna genin didn't take this laughter as insulting, just kept smiling.

"I told him I helped her back to the House yesterday, and he said I should help her whenever you do something wrong during you guys' stay in Suna," the boy said, grinning proudly. Mitsuki glared at him, cracking her knuckles in anger rather than her just usual habit popping.

"I really do not like you," she said, slowly popping each joint in her left hand. Usabarashi smiled at her even more.

"Really? After such a small amount of time we've spent together, you've already grown to love me?" he asked, earning dumbfounded stares from all three Konoha genin.

"Oh, my god. Sensei, how much trouble would I get into for killing the Kazekage's student?" Mitsuki asked as she turned to face her slightly sobering sensei.

"A lot, so don't, because then you wouldn't learn the cool new tricks I'm going to teach you today. Thank you for bringing my young Genin here Usa-kun, tell your Sensei that he does have a sense of humor," Naruto said. He exhaled once, breathing off his laughter though a grin remained on his tan face.

Haru's eyes widened behind his sunglasses, and he looked towards the dark haired boy. "You're training under the _Kazekage_?" he asked, shock bleeding from the scoffed at her teammate, walking past him to go lean against one of the trees Obito was NOT standing underneath.

"So what if he is, we're training under the guy that beat the Kazekage, though you two weren't awake for those delightful trips down Memory Lane," Mitsuki said. Sarcasm was etched in her voice, but the stories were probably a distraction device to keep her mind off of her fallen teammates. She kind of liked hearing the idiotic stories about her Sensei when he was a genin.

"You enjoyed the stories and you know it Miki-chan. Catch you later Usa-kun," Naruto said, grinning. Usabarashi nodded once, still smiling, and disappeared in a swirl of sand.

"Holy Hokage, he creeps me out," Mitsuki said, as soon as all traces of the boy were gone. Naruto chuckled at his genin, walking back towards the center point between the three trees.

"Okay team, today you're going to learn about chakra control," Naruto declared. All three of the genin stared at him for a second, not saying anything.

"Are we doing that tree climbing thing?" Obito asked curiously. He'd seen his dad do it plenty of times, but he'd never asked him to show him how, he always said that he'd be trained better by a sensei who wasn't going to worry about his only son falling from a tall branch. It was annoying.

"We're climbing trees?" Mitsuki asked, unimpressed. How were you supposed to learn chakra control from climbing trees? That was a ridiculous idea and Mitsuki couldn't really see how it would help with chakra training.

"Sensei, how will that help with our chakra control?" Haru asked. He looked from the tree he was closest to, towards his sensei. What purpose was there for climbing a tree? You didn't need chakra to climb a tree.

"By not using your hands. At all," Naruto said, walking towards Obito's tree. The three genin watched their sensei with curiosity that soon turned into fascination as he focused his chakra and began to _walk up the tree!_

Mitsuki felt her jaw unhinge slightly, though she didn't open her mouth like an idiot would. Haru's eyes widened slightly as Naruto walked up the side of the tree towards the thickest branch, walking on top of it.

Naruto looked down at the genin, grinning like normal before he let himself fall back, his chakra focused to hold onto the branch as he swung down to hang on the underside of the thick tree branch like a bat. He turned around to see the shocked faces of both Haru and Mitsuki, Obito just watched passively, like he'd seen all this before.

"So, how do we do it?" the silver haired genin asked crassly. His father taught him the basics of things, when he wasn't working, but he'd never taught him proper chakra control. How could Obito become a better ninja if he didn't understand the basics of control.

His father only told him "If I teach you everything, what will your sensei have left to teach you?" But usually that was right before he had to go do Hokage business. He'd only been Hokage for two years, but he'd barely seen him for any of that time other than meals. Obito wanted his dad back…

"Focus your chakra into the base of your feet. But you need to be careful, too little…" Naruto trailed off as he released his chakra, falling to the ground and landing silently on his feet. "And you won't stick. Too much and it will repel you off the tree and damage the tree. I'd like you guys to not damage the trees, Suna doesn't have many."

"And if we finish early?" Mitsuki asked, sure of herself with being able to climb the tree all the way to the top. Naruto chuckled.

"We'll see when we get there," he said. "Now start. Oh, and you might want a running start. Use a kunai to mark your progress."

All three genin nodded their affirmation, drawing their kunai from various holster spots, and began to gather their chakra into their feet. Obito looked at the tree, determining it's thickness with how much chakra he'd need to get up the tree. Mitsuki used a wild guess, for trial and error purposes.

Obito and Mitsuki took off running towards the trees, Mitsuki took five steps up before she was repelled off the tree. She flipped herself so that she wouldn't land on her back. Obito had gotten nine steps up before his chakra slipped it's hold from the tree. This resulted in Obito pushing himself off the tree to land on his feet.

Haru had a different method; he simply walked up to the tree and placed a foot on it, measuring his chakra to what he'd need to walk up. Once he found a suitable balance, Haru began to walk up the tree with an ease that made it seem like he did this in his spare time. Mitsuki and Obito watched with fascination as Haru walked up to the highest part of the tree and swiped it with a kunai before calling down to his sensei.

"Naruto-sensei, this is pretty easy," Haru grinned, his sunglasses falling onto his forehead to show off the joy in his dark blue eyes. His face looked insanely happy, he'd never been the first to get anything right in practice. It felt good. Great even. Haru no longer felt like the weakest member of the team.

"Great job Haru-kun, That's the quickest I've seen anyone do it," Naruto said, grinning with pride for the genin. Mitsuki bit her lip, she was happy for Haru, most definitely she was. But she really wanted to show Naruto that she could get this easy.

Obito stared up at his comrade, a light smile on his face and a jovial laugh trying to surface. He was happy for his teammate, truly. Obito knew he'd get it eventually, but it was nice to know that his comrade had such amazing chakra control.

"Come on you two, I don't want Haru-kun to be the only one to get this right off the bat," Naruto razzed, grinning deviously. He was teasing, he knew, and it was mainly towards Mitsuki. Mitsuki would be the most infuriated by his teasing, therefore would be the one most dedicated.

Both Genins tightened their grips on their kunai, and began to run towards the trees. Both higher up than last time, actually they both got higher than Obito's previous height, but again they fell. Obito's chakra repelled him from the tree at eighteen feet, and Mitsuki's chakra lost it's hold at fifteen. The trees were about fifty feet high.

Mitsuki looked up at the top of her tree, glaring heavily. She was thinking. If her first try had been too much, and her second try had been too few, then she need to her chakra into a middle ground. It wasn't exactly a science, it was logical.

Haru watched his teammates try and try to climb to the top of the trees, sitting atop the boulder where he originally was with Naruto asleep on the ground a few feet away. They looked like they were slowly getting it, they didn't need his help, and obviously wouldn't be getting any help from their Sensei. Haru watched his teammates, watched them learn and go higher and higher up the trees. They were so close to getting it.

Obito liked this exercise. It was a trial and error thing, first you try, find your error, and try again. And you keep doing that until you succeed.

He and Mitsuki were resting on the ground, Obito was slightly out of breath, and if Mitsuki was she didn't show it. She just looked angry.

"I think I got this," she said, pushing herself up off the ground. Obito didn't join in the little race, but chose to watch the kunoichi to see if she succeeded this time.

Mitsuki focused the chakra into her feet, and then raced up the tree. She kept going higher and higher, keeping her chakra focused and even for the tree. Obito watched her. She was going to do it, she was going to make it. That settled it for him, he needed to climb up that tree in the next five minutes so that he wouldn't be seen as the weakest.

"YES!" Mitsuki crowed hanging from the top of the tree. Her kunai was stuck in the top of the tree, and her legs were wrapped around it's thin trunk. She'd gotten it! It hadn't even been an hour since Naruto had assigned the task, and she'd done it!

Naruto opened his bright blue eyes, proving that he had been awake the entire time, and stared up into the tree. He didn't smile, didn't make a single expression, just stared up. His genin were proving to be something else, already having some hold of chakra when it had taken him and Sasuke a couple days. It had only been an hour. Naruto turned his gaze towards Obito, who was running up the side of his own tree until he reached the top, and shoved the kunai in.

Well damn, now Naruto had to plan something else. He laughed off his lazy grumpiness and pushed himself into a standing position.

"Congratulations guys, now we move onto something harder," Naruto said.

"Like what?" asked Mitsuki as she slid down the tree.

"The Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

"Shadow Clones?" asked Obito. Once he got low enough on the tree, he jump down and landed nimbly on his feet.

"Yup."

"Isn't that a Jounin level technique?" Haru asked from his rock. It was his rock, he claimed it for the day. He would not give up his rock…

Where was his canteen, he was starting to feel a bit warm… Haru peeled off his two shirts and dropped his black long sleeved shirt onto the sand beside his rock before donning his white shirt again.

"Haru-kun stopping stripping for us, it's going to distract the female member of our team," Naruto teased. All three genin stared blankly at the blonde ninja, though Haru had a slight blush on his face.

"Sensei, you're an idiot. Now are you really going to teach us a _Jounin _level technique?" Mitsuki asked, brushing off the previous comment. She wanted to learn a higher grade technique, one that could help her perfect a jutsu she'd been working on.

"Believe it," Naruto said, grinning.

**-Break-Break-Break-Break-Break-Break-Break-**

"Where's Usabarashi? He's late again…" a brunette twelve-year-old girl whined, lying on the warm sand. She, along with a younger blonde boy and a red headed man, were sitting in the desert waiting for the third member of their genin squad.

"Sora, I've sent Usabarashi out on a mission, he'll be arriving shortly," the red haired man said. He looked at the young kunoichi with ringed eyes, eyes that never displayed any emotion for as long as Sora had been his student. Probably longer than that, but she'd never really looked at him before being assigned as his genin.

"Hai, Kazekage-sensei," she said, defeated.

"Is he following around that tiny little kunoichi from Konoha again? I'm tired of him getting distracted like this," a boy complained, digging his foot into the sand.

"Tadao, you think so little of me that I'd get distracted by a pretty girl?" came a familiar happy voice behind him. Tadao didn't have to feel the sand blowing against his back to know that his other teammate had arrived. He turned to face him, green eyes glaring.

"So you think she's pretty."

"Have you seen her hair? It's so pretty under the Suna sun. Besides, she's quite strong willed, not like some girls I know who just go along with whatever anyone asks of her," Usabarashi said, staring pointedly at his female comrade. She merely shrugged as she sat up.

"I'm an easy going gal, what can I say?" she grinned. She pushed herself up to stand, and towering easily over her two teammates.

"Bah, you two are ridiculous. Sensei what are we doing today?" Tadao asked, turning towards the stoic Kage.

Gaara stared at his genin, wondering how he'd managed to get such loud people for his team. But they were skilled, he'd give them that, which was why he'd requested to train the trio of students. Usabarashi and Sora were twelve, but Tadao was only ten, excelling above anyone else in his class.

"Sora, I want you and Tadao to fight today. Your puppetry against his wind chakra," Gaara said. The two genin nodded.

"Hai, Sensei," they said simultaneously.

"Usabarashi, come with me," Gaara ordered the dark haired genin. Usabarashi had been watching his comrades throw insults at each other, a smile for once not decorating his tan face.

"Hai, Kazekage-Sensei," Usabarashi said, tearing his eyes from his teammates. He followed Gaara towards a spot farther away from their teammates, where they could just hear the sounds of their fight. Usabarashi focused on his Sensei.

"Usabarashi, you're learning the third eye technique. It will be handy for you to learn in case you need to spy on your enemy," Gaara said.

"How do I do that? Ball of sand, focus my chakra to it and from my eye?"

"Your optic nerve, you link chakra to your optic nerve in whichever eye feels dominant to you and then to your hand that's controlling the sand and ultimately the sand itself."

"Sounds tricky. Wanna bet how long it'll take before I master it?"

"No, just work on doing it efficiently. Now press a finger on your dominant eye and focus on the flow of chakra there."

Usabarashi did exactly as he was told to do by his Sensei. He was a sand user like his sensei, so he'd be able to learn the most from him. Sora and Takao had some days where they trained with Kankuro-Sensei or Temari-Sensei, but usually they all had their trainings with the Kazekage.

He was distracted though, by a memory of that smile Mitsuki wore yesterday when he'd led her to the Kazekage house. That made him smile as he practiced his jutsu.

**-Break-Break-Break-Break-Break-Break-Break-**

"Sensei, can we take a break?" Mitsuki asked. She was on her hands and knees, panting deeply. They'd been at this for hours, and Naruto wanted them to be able to make more than two shadow clones at a time in the quickest amount of time. Obito was sitting against a tree, sweating horribly and panting. His eyes were closed. Haru was in the worst condition, sitting in front of his rock, panting, sweating, and trembling.

Naruto looked up at the sun, squinting at it. So far, the most the genin could do were two clones in fifteen minutes, he didn't expect them to be like him and be able to make a thousand, but he had been the worst genin and his year and he'd gotten it quick. Naruto might need to lower his standards a bit about them.

"A break would be good right about now. Come on, I'll treat you guys to lunch. Gonna meet up with an old friend and his team," Naruto said.

"Don't tell me we're going to meet with Usabarashi," Mitsuki said. She glared heavily up at her sensei, she had no desire to spend anymore time with that happy go lucky idiot. Naruto laughed.

"Fortunately for you, no."

Obito looked to Mitsuki's confused face as she looked back and forth between him and Haru. Obito shrugged, their Sensei apparently had a lot of friends in Suna.

"So who is it?" Haru asked.

"You'll see when we get there. Now come on team, I can hear your stomachs from here," Naruto said. At that moment, all three genins' stomachs began to let out feral sound growls.

Naruto was laughing as the genin followed him back to the village.

* * *

**Okay, sooooo?**

**How was it?**

**If it was too crazy and weird, my apologies, I am ill.**

**On the plus side to being sick, I have a coloring book and crayons!**

**It's so awesome!**

**Okay, time to answer my lovely reviews!**

**Bookworm73: Again I say, you are great! Lol, thanks for coming back and reading! Naruto will never change, he's still a knucklehead. An adorable knucklehead though. : )**

**hypnotic flames: Mitsuki's phobia? We'll see about that… Thank you for coming back and reading again, and reviewing again! So far you have the most reviews, you get a cookie! Or a cupcake… I know, you get a coloring book and crayons because who doesn't want that? Lol : )**


	10. Friendly Meals

**So I'm considering putting this thing on a schedule...**

**What say ya'll?**

**I'll use ya'll cause it's my native tongue. Southern.**

**So, every Saturday there will be an update?**

**Sound good?**

**Fantastic. I'm glad you guys agree, you're so sweet.**

**Now, other than the Chapter Art, I'm getting rid of the top Authors note at the top.**

**Sad, I know.**

**Now, onto the chapter art!**

**Naruto's right side profile with an ANBU animal mask with a Fox design on his face, and sprouting out the back of his head is a dark haired man whose face is covered by an ANBU animal mask with a hawk design.  
**

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Sitting in the Soba shop, Obito found himself being drawn into a debate with his female teammate about the best ways to communicate without saying a word.

"How did you not notice? Did you think you were in a class full of ADHD people?" Mitsuki asked.

"Yes. I actually did."

"Even Haru was a part of it, surely you thought that was weird, Haru's the exact opposite of ADHD," Mistuki said, gesturing to the genin beside her. Haru looked up from his notebook at the mention of his name, blinking rapidly.

"Hmm?"

"Nothing Haru, trying to make a point to Obito."

"Okay," Haru said. He hunched back down to his notes, writing things down.

"So you mean to say that the entire time we were in the academy, everyone who should have failed set up their own cheating code?" Obito asked. Mitsuki nodded, a coy smile on her face.

"We were so sneaky, we should have already been ninja at that point," she said. Obito stared blankly at her.

"Right… Naruto-sensei, when are the people we're meeting getting here?" Obito asked, turning to face his blonde sensei next to him. Naruto had his blue eyes surreptitiously trained on the door, even though it looked like he was listening to his genins' conversation. He grinned when he saw the door open, and a familiar head of black hair entered the restaurant. A Suna headband was across his forehead.

"They're here. OI! TEME!" Naruto yelled, waving towards the newcomers.

Sasuke Uchiha stared emotionlessly at the Orange Maelstrom waving frantically at his direction.

"Sasuke-sensei… is that him?" a young girl by his side asked. She had flaming red hair and bright blue eyes, couldn't have been older than eight. She had her headband wrapped around her neck.

"He looks like an idiot," commented a dark haired boy dryly. Another boy with white blonde hair and goggles over his eyes nodded his agreement. Each of them wore their headbands across their foreheads.

"Unfortunately, that's him," the Uchiha said. "Come on." He led his team towards the table, where the blonde Jounin was grinning widely.

"Been a while, eh Sasuke-teme?" the blonde asked.

"Dobe, stop yelling across restaurants. Some of us live here," he said, sitting down across from the blonde.

"Yeah, yeah. So, these must be your brats. Nice. I'm Uzumaki Naruto, these are my Genin," Naruto said, waving a hand over the three Konoha children.

"Nice introduction Sensei," mocked Mitsuki. She turned her gaze towards the other genin, and finally to Sasuke, her face remaining blank. "My name is Uzuki Mitsuki."

"Hello, my name is Yamashiro Haru, nice to meet you," Haru said politely, stowing his notebook and pens back into his pockets.

"Hatake Obito," Obito said, his eyes trained on Sasuke. He looked familiar, but he couldn't place where. Sasuke arched an eyebrow at Obito, turning to Naruto.

"Hatake? You have Kakashi's son?" he asked. Naruto nodded.

"It's weird, like I have a tiny Kakashi-Sensei to teach," Naruto said. Naruto used one hand to mess up the silver haired genins spikes, earning a look of displeasure from the boy.

"Hn. These are my genin, Ioka, Hotan, and Toshi," Sasuke said, nodding to each of his genin. The dark haired boy sat next to his sensei, with Ioka and the goggle-eyed boy sliding down beside them. The seating chart was Sasuke and Naruto across from each other, Obito and Hotan across from each other, Mitsuki and Ioka across from each other, and Haru and Toshi across from each other.

"Hi," the girl giggled. She was staring up at Naruto mischievously. The boys said nothing, just nodded their heads in a silent greeting.

"How talkative you guys are. So Sasuke-san, how do you know our sensei and the Hokage-sama?" Mitsuki asked, looking over to the dark haired Jounin.

"I used to live in Konoha, I was on the same team as this Dobe under the training of Kakashi," Sasuke explained. Obito's eyes widened with the realization.

"That's where I recognize you from, my dad has a team photo of you guys on his desk. You're _that_ Sasuke-san," Obito said.

"You trained under the Hokage? Wow, and you're an Uchiha too…" Mitsuki said, slightly star struck. She'd heard rumors around the village from older kids about the old abandoned Uchiha Compound, that they were one of the most powerful families in Konoha until they were wiped out.

"You didn't get that amazed when I told you that I trained under him and one of the Sannin," Naruto grumbled.

"But you're an idiot, Baka-Sensei," Mitsuki said bluntly. Sasuke smirked, apparently his friend's genin didn't think of him very highly.

"Some genin you got there, Dobe," he said, smirking at his best friend.

"Watch it, Teme, I bet mine could whoop yours any day," Naruto challenged.

"Not likely, Dobe."

"How about we settled it right here and now!"

"You're fighting for a lost cause."

"You're just chicken!"

"What was that?"

"Bawk Bawk Bawk!"

"May I take your order?" chirped a waitress who was suddenly standing at their table. Both Jounin and the six genin looked at her, and the genin looked back at the Jounin, who had grabbed each other by their collars and were about to start a restaurant brawl.

"Can I get some Tororo Soba?" Ioka asked, smiling sweetly at the waitress.

"Tsukimi Soba," Toshi said as he adjusted his goggles.

"Currynanban Soba," ordered Hotan, not looking up at the waitress. He didn't seem like he wanted to be there, was just putting up with it.

"**Soki Soba," **Naruto and Sasuke said together. They both stopped, and glared at each other. **"An extra large serving."** They glared at each other harder. They probably would have kept making their servings larger had they not been interrupted.

"Kake Soba," Mitsuki said loudly. She glared at the two Jounin before her, either everyone Naruto-Sensei knew was an idiot, or he had the ability to make them an idiot. Either way, they were both behaving like idiots.

"Kake Soba as well please," Haru said, smiling politely towards the waitress.

"I'd like Sansai Soba please," Obito said politely. The waitress scribbled all the orders down and smiled at them.

"All right, I'll have your orders out as soon as I can," she told them happily before walking back to the kitchens. Silence fell on the table once she left before being broken by Naruto's laughter. Haru looked between them, their fight was forgotten it seemed, because even Sasuke was smiling slightly.

"It's been a while, eh Sasuke?" Naruto asked, grinning at his friend.

"Hn, it has," the Suna Jounin agreed. Ioka looked between the two Jounin with her nose wrinkled, she didn't like them domineering the entire conversation. She focused her attention towards the three Konoha Genin on the other side of the table.

"Hi! I'm Ioka, you can call me Ioka-chan, so what's Konoha like? I've never been," she asked, looking at all three of the genin. She batted her baby blues at them, feeling perfectly adorable with all these cute guys… and Mitsuki…

"It's nice, it doesn't have the same heat as Suna, but it has a lot of trees," Haru said, smiling.

"Sounds nice, Haru-kun, right?" Ioka asked sweetly. Mitsuki rolled her eyes, please, who did that tiny little girl think she was kidding.

"Look, Ioka, how old are you anyway? Eight? Nine?" Mitsuki asked blankly. Her face rested in her left hand, her pinky just underneath her eye. Ioka looked at her annoyed as Toshi snorted.

"Shut up Shi-kun, first, it's Ioka-_chan,_ and second, I'm twelve. Just because you have an old looking face and wrinkles," Ioka said, pouting towards the purple haired genin.

All four of the Konoha Nin raised their eyebrows at this, but then Mitsuki got the full extent of what the other girl said to her.

"Excuse me? Old looking? Just because some of us, namely, not you, have experienced puberty doesn't mean I'm old looking," Mitsuki said, glaring heavily at the girl.

"Puberty? Please, you're like 4 feet tall," Ioka mocked.

"Four foot five! I'm only twelve do you expect me to be a giant? You're even shorter than I am! You little pygmy," Mitsuki hissed, glaring.

"Oi Teme, should we break this up? I don't want to, because their both so tiny…" Naruto whispered to his friend. Sasuke glared at the blonde knucklehead.

"Mitsuki-chan," Haru started, resting a hand on the kunoichi's shoulder.

"No, let her continue to talk, about time someone talked Ioka down a peg," Hotan said. This was the first time he had spoken freely since sitting at the table.

"Ho-kun, you need to shut up too!" Ioka said. Ioka glared heavily at her dark haired teammate, trying to look menacing even though she looked like an angry little cherry.

"Both of you knock it off. Mitsuki-san, my apologies, Ioka-chan can be a bit aggravating at times. She likes to believe that she's completely adorable," Toshi said.

Mitsuki opened her mouth to say something else, but was cut off by her silver haired teammate.

"Mitsuki-san, let it go. You don't have to start an argument with everyone you meet," Obito said, an edge of aggression in his otherwise flat voice. Under the table, he surreptitiously grabbed her wrist to make her focus her attention on him. Mitsuki exhaled sharply through her nose, black eyes focused on the red haired genin in front of her.

"Fine, just this once though. She calls me old again and she'll go down," Mitsuki grumbled. Ioka glared back, sticking her tongue out childishly. Mitsuki made a move as if she wanted to throw herself across the table, but was held back by Naruto's hand clasping onto her shoulder.

"Hey now, no killing little people for calling you old, she's jealous that you can see over the counter," Naruto said. He pulled her back against the seat, staring her down so that she wouldn't try again.

Mitsuki bit her tongue, and stared ruefully at her sensei. "Hai…" she said reluctantly.

"Suna seems like a nice place to live, but the sand would drive me crazy," Haru laughed, changing the topic.

"It's no so bad, especially if you live here long enough," Toshi said. The tense mood slowly melted away with the trivial conversations.

"So why do you wear the goggles? Is it to keep sand out of your eyes?" Mitsuki asked curiously. Toshi shook his head.

"No, it's for a jutsu I'm working on, it makes my eyes sensitive," he said, adjusting them slightly. Behind them, Toshi's eyes were a pale green color, almost like a spring green. They were a bit unusual…

"Couldn't a medical jutsu fix that though?" Mitsuki asked. Obito shook his head in response.

"No, side effects from a jutsu you make are different, things like that can't be fixed with a medical jutsu or even surgery," Obito explained. He was knowledgeable in this, having learned a few things from his mom who was one of the head nurses in the Konoha Hospital. He liked learning about Medical jutsu, he liked it better than just regular combat jutsu.

"Huh, that's something useful to know," Mitsuki mused, sipping at her tea.

"Obito-kun, your dad's the Hokage right? Who's your mom? She must be as equally amazing," Ioka gushed. Her arms were folded on top of the table, and judging by the thumps coming from under the table, she was swinging her legs back and forth like a child.

"My mom is the head nurse in the village hospital," Obito said, a slight smile pulling on his lips. Mitsuki snorted.

"Obito, your mom is amazing, she fixed my leg last year after that shuriken practice went awry and didn't tell my mother," Mitsuki said. "Your mom is my second favorite out of our entire class."

"Second? Who's the first?" Haru asked, confused. He had met Obito's mother, and she was probably the nicest person he's ever met.

"Michi's mom. She likes to pretend that I'm the daughter she never had," Mitsuki said, smiling to herself. She loved her own mother despite her insane need to keep Mitsuki from the world, but there was something that felt really nice about being spoiled by your best friend's mom.

"Why am I more disturbed that you play favorites with people's moms than the fact that Michiru-san's mom treats you better than she treats him…" Haru said slowly.

"Because Michi deserves it." A peaceful smile rested on the young girl's face. She enjoyed spending time with her team, she didn't mind spending time with another team with her team, though she could do without the tiny little munchkin trying to pretend like she was adorable. They were ninja, they weren't supposed to be adorable.

The waitress brought out their food, setting down each soba dish in front of the person that ordered it.

Obito watched the two girls at the table, taking in their differences. Ioka was being all ladylike and dainty, but Mitsuki just ate like a normal person. Not careful, but not sloppy. She was just eating at a calm pace even though there was a small onion clinging onto her cheek.

Obito turned back to his food, and started to eat before it got too cold.

* * *

After the meal was over, all eight shinobi walked out of the restaurant.

"Sensei, are we going back to training now?" Haru asked curiously, looking towards Naruto. The blonde shook his head.

"No, that's it, rest of the day is yours. Tomorrow we escort Condor and his daughter back to their home and go back to Konoha," Naruto said.

"What about us Sasuke-sensei? We're still training right?" Hotan asked, staring at the Uchiha. Sasuke shook his head as well.

"No, the rest of the day is yours, and tomorrow you'll work twice as hard," Sasuke said, resolute with his order. The three Suna genin nodded.

"Hai, Sensei," they said together. The three genin stood proud and firm until both Jounin shifted away in a speed blur. Not intimidated by their instructor, team seven stood there watching at a usual relaxed and stoic stature.

Silence fell on the six twelve year olds, who stood there staring at each other. It was Mitsuki who broke the silence.

"Okay, I'm going back to training. Obito, Haru, I'll see you two later. You others… Bye," she said. Mitsuki began to walk back towards the training grounds they were at, not really caring to socialize.

"I as well am going back to train, Toshi, Ioka, it would do you well to train too," Hotan said monotonously.

"Ho-kun stop acting like Sasuke-Sensei. Obito-kun, Haru-kun, you should come hang out with us, or at least me and Shi-kun since Ho-kun wants to go and train like a meathead," Ioka said, smiling sweet as could be. Hotan glared slightly at the tiny girl.

"Tch, be weak then," he said. And with that being said Hotan behaved like his sensei and his sensei's best friend, he shifted away with chakra induced jumping. The genin left stood awkwardly, or at least three of them did. Toshi wanted his female teammate to stop behaving like an idiot, and the two Konoha genin felt like their teammate had just been insulted.

Haru looked at Obito, using his eyes to convey what he thought they should do. Obito nodded slightly, and turned to address the red haired Suna Genin.

"Ioka-san-"

"_Chan."_

"Right, I think Haru and I are going to go join Mitsuki-chan in training. We want to finish what our Sensei assigned us to do before lunch," Obito said. For the first time, Haru noticed that Obito had tacked on 'Chan' to Mitsuki's name instead of the usual 'San'. Showing Ioka how much Mitsuki meant to them as a teammate, or just letting her know that she meant more than Ioka.

Ioka's smiling face fell as her teammate's cheeks pulled into a sardonic smirk. Haru felt a little bad, he hadn't meant to hurt her feelings by not going. But, she had insulted his teammate and that wasn't going to fly well with either him or Obito.

"We'll see you tomorrow, before we leave," Haru promised slightly. Ioka, pursed her lips, it was better than nothing. With Sensei's double training tomorrow, she didn't even know if she could say bye, but nonetheless she smiled brightly.

"I'll look forward to it Ha-kun, Obi-kun," Ioka said cheerfully. Obito pulled back a bit, startled. He had not been expecting a nickname, especially not one that was a somewhat embarrassing…

"Er, right. See you around…" Haru said, also not expecting the nickname. Ioka and Toshi stood there, Ioka waving fervently, as the two Konoha genin walked off after their female comrade.

"You're really desperate. You know that?" Toshi said once they were out of sight. Ioka dropped her smile.

"Will you shut up for once Shi-kun. Come on, since we have the rest of the day free, you're going to take me shopping," Ioka said. Quick as a sand viper, the small girl reached out towards her taller and more muscular teammate with an iron grip as she wrapped her hand around his wrist.

Poor boy didn't have much of a choice in the matter.

Unbeknownst to the duo, a pair of Jounin stood atop one of the highest buildings in Suna.

"Ya know Teme, that girl on your team scares me a bit," laughed Naruto. The wind was blowing back his hair from his face, highlighting the whisker marks on his tanned face.

The pale, darkly clad Suna Jounin beside him stood stoic still, the only way he acknowledged the wind was his hair and clothes being moved by it. "Ioka needs to mature with her personality, but she is a good ninja, all of my genin are."

"If they're trained by you, they gotta be, Teme. But you know, Chunnin exams are in a couple months, we could really see how our teams compare in them," Naruto said, staring deviously down at the specks he knew to be his own genin.

"Are yours ready?"

"They will be, better question, will yours be able to handle it?"

"Just make sure that yours won't cry when they get beaten. Dobe."

"Wanna place a bet then since you're so sure?"

"Why would you want to make such a useless bet?"

"Because I know I'll win."

"…"

"Chicken."

"What are the damn stakes, Dobe."

"Ramen-"

"No."

"Fine then, For every win one of our own Genin get, the other has to do something like… Steal Kakashi-Sensei's mask or something like that."

"Fine then. Come the Chunnin exams in Konoha, our bet will start once the first exam starts."

"Great. Now, Sakura-chan wants to know how you're doing. Should I tell her you haven't gotten sand blindness… yet…" Naruto asked, grinning mischievously. His blue eyes were shining from the sunlight, nullifying his mischievous look.

Sasuke stared at the blonde Maelstrom with a blank expression. Why was he friends with such an idiot? Sasuke exhaled slowly through his nose, and turn to walk away.

"What? Sasuke! What'd I say? ! Oi, stop walking away from me! !"

* * *

**Who liked me bringing Sasuke in?**

**Come on, it was an awesome add on.**

**Admit it, you know you want to admit it.**

**Okay, for those who would be confused by Sasuke coming back AND being part of the Suna village... I have this theory.**

**I see Naruto and Sasuke's battle, Naruto does his talking/fighting thing he always does, you know the one, where he gives them an Ass-Kicking while giving an inspirational speech.**

**So he does that and makes Sasuke see sense. But, he wouldn't be able to go back, he's an enemy of the Village because by the time Naruto gets around to actually finding Sasuke he'll already be trying to destroy the Village. So Gaara being the awesome person he is, offers an invitation to join Sunagakure's ranks.**

**That's how I see it. It's my story, so you guys have to go along with it. Sorry. :)**

**Now onto Reviews:**

**Bookworm73: I've noticed that your reviews keep getting longer and longer. I like that. Lol, anyway, now to actually respond. You my friend, are really good! ;) Gaara doesn't seem like the type who would willingly teach such rambunctious genin. It's my little humor to myself. :)  
**

**Doiti Etok: You came back! I'm so happy! You might not have minded, but I am somewhat paranoid and imagining otakus all over the world hating me for writing and quitting. And they all have posh British accents too so that doesn't help much... I'm kind of crazy... ANYWAY. I don't really get what you mean by your question? How far into the story will it apply? I'm taking a wild guess, and do correct me if I'm wrong dearest, but I intend to keep the story kind of relevant to the most recent chapters and episodes of Naruto. As long as it keeps making sense in my story... if it doesn't then instead of changing my story, I'll just keep it relevant to what happened in my story. Wow this is a long review response, okay. If that's not what you meant... then please correct me, I'm an easily confused person. I will continue it, I've even set it up on a schedule! I'll continue to look forward to your reviews and respond to them as long as I'm writing this fanfic.**

**So, that's it for today. I'll see you guys with a new chapter next Saturday... Or late Friday, Cause I just remembered I'm having an overnight trip. Shit. Late Friday or Early Saturday my fondest readers, I love you all.**

**Oh, and who can guess who the other person in the chapter art is? I'll give a bowl of Ramen to those that guess correctly. :)  
**


	11. So Long Suna

**Chapter 10**

**So Long Suna**

**Chapter Art: Naruto and Sasuke standing together, pretending to look tough, with both their Genin teams standing prepared for attack. Obito has his hands forming hand seals, Mitsuki is launching forward with her hands clenched into fists, Haru strategically placed back with kunai in his hands. Ioka is preparing to throw a Fuma Shuriken, Toshi has his foot kicked out, and Hotan crouched low with spiked steel knuckles.  
**

* * *

Early the next morning, Naruto stood with his genin at the gates of Suna. Haru and Obito each held a rope for one of the Ostriches. Mitsuki stood on the other side of her sensei, away from the large oversized birds, her fingers shoved knuckle deep in the back pockets of her shorts. Her face was wiped clean of any emotion.

It was her own mask, a cover up for the fact that she was freaking out on the inside.

Her black eyes watched as Naruto said his goodbyes to the Kazekage and his family, as well as to Sasuke who stood directly beside the Kazekage. All six Sunagakure Genin stood behind their sensei's respectively.

She was avoiding the stare of a certain Genin standing just to the right of the Kazekage, one who was smiling at her nonstop. She kept her gaze on her commanding officer, ignoring the black haired genin.

"We'll see you in the coming months," the Kazekage said. Naruto nodded, a look of full seriousness on his face.

"Hai, we look forward to it Kazekage-sama," Naruto said in a business-like tone. They stood stiff and business like for a short while before Naruto grinned.

"Take care Gaara," Naruto said happily. It wasn't noticeable if a person wasn't paying attention, but a small smile adorned the young Kazekage's face.

"You as well Naruto," he said. The two shook hands, smiling at each other. Sasuke merely stared at Naruto as he turned to his best friend.

"Sasuke, you better not forget," he said, a devious gleam in his blue eyes. Sasuke scoffed.

"As if Naruto, you're the one most likely to forget since it's not about Ramen for once," he told the blonde. His insult did nothing to hamper Naruto's mood, instead, the Orange Maelstrom smiled warmly.

"I'll let Sakura-chan know you're all right," Naruto said. Sasuke nodded once.

"Make sure your Genin don't die under your watch," Sasuke said, smirking.

"Make sure yours don't try to commit Mutiny."

"Yours would do it first."

"My team respects me!"

"You really are a Dobe."

"WHAT? !"

"Sensei, can we say goodbye to our new friends?" Ioka interrupted the two arguing Jounin. She stood up next to Sasuke, wearing her best ninja clothes, and a pretty smile painted on her face. Both Jounin stared down at the girl, surprised that their argument had been interrupted again.

"Uh, hai," Sasuke said, somewhat stumbling over his words. It was always Naruto who made him fight, always Naruto who brought out the child in him. Ioka smiled brightly at her Sensei, and scampered over towards Obito and Haru. Hotan and Toshi both stared after her before walking over towards Mitsuki.

"It was nice to meet you Mitsuki-san," Toshi said. Bowing slightly.

"We'll miss having another person who doesn't put up with Ioka," Hotan said. Neither boy wore much expression on their faces, but both looked her straight in the eye. Mitsuki nodded once.

"It was nice to meet you both as well. Maybe our teams will meet up again in the future," she said. Her face was also blank, but it was also carefree like it would have been had she been back in the Academy. Both Genin nodded back at her before going over to Obito and Haru.

To Mitsuki's surprise, Ioka came over to her after she said her goodbyes to Haru and Obito.

"Bye Mi-chan! Have a safe journey back to Konoha!" she chirped, a false smile tight on her face. Mitsuki cocked a single eyebrow at the shorter girl. It was all pleasantries, a face to put up to appear polite.

"Don't call me bye any nicknames. You don't know me well enough to title me so," Mitsuki said, not bothering to put up a front. She stared blankly down at the red headed girl, face harsh.

Ioka flinched back in surprise. She'd been expecting the same false pleasantries back instead of the rude retort she'd gotten. She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it when she found nothing to say. She repeated this process a few times, looking like a small red fish, before she trudged back towards her Sensei's side.

Usabarashi looked from Mitsuki to his sensei.

"Sensei?" he asked, staring up at the Kazekage.

"Go say your goodbyes," Gaara allowed. His arms were folded across his chest, head down and eyes closed. Usabarashi grinned, and eagerly walked towards the purple haired girl.

"Mitsuki-chan," he said once he got close enough. He stopped just a foot away from her. Towering above the small girl by half a foot, he made her feel enclosed. A feeling Mitsuki did not like coming from this particular boy.

"Usabarashi, why do you find such joy in harassing me?" she asked point blank. Her eyes were staring up at him, whiles his gaze met hers as he stared down.

"I dunno, I just do. Don't forget about me okay?" Usabarashi asked, smiling. Mitsuki didn't smile back, she just stared with an emotionless stare that did nothing to deter the Sand Nin's smile.

"No promises. I'd like to forget the person who's been stalking me," she said. Usabarashi's smile didn't waver though, in fact it seemed to grow somewhat mischievous. She glared at him, pursing her lips. Her mask had melted away with the annoyance of this particular boy.

"Well what if I guarantee to make you not forget me?" he asked. The sun was shining down on his face, making his eyes seem to glow gold. Or at least turn the color of the sand that surrounded them. Mitsuki scoffed.

"What could you possibl-" Mitsuki was cut off by Usabarashi ducking in quickly and pressing his lips to hers for a chaste kiss. She stood still with shock as he pulled away, grinning like an idiot before backing away. He looked bloody proud to have done that. And every person gathered grew silent at what had happened.

Naruto was the first to do something, going over to Mitsuki before she exploded, or at least he tried to.

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" she howled, launching herself forward. Mitsuki's assault was halted as Naruto looped an arm around Mitsuki's torso, pulling her off the ground.

Mitsuki had tunnel vision, all she could see was Usabarashi, all she could see was his smile, all she could see was how she was going to kill him.

Naruto laughed nervously.

"I guess we'll be taking our leave then, Dattebayo," he said, accidentally slipping into his former habit. He held the struggling girl back, feeling the bloodlust radiate off her like flames. He hadn't used that word in so long, usually only when he was caught off guard, like with this Usabarashi kid laying the moves on one of his genin.

Naruto waved as they walked off, holding a struggling Mitsuki tight over his shoulder.

Tadao stood beside his teammates, staring at the disappearing figures as his overly happy teammate waved still.

"Usabarashi, you're an idiot."

"Tadao! I am offended to here you say that! I was simply leaving Mitsuki-chan with something to remember me by!" Usabarashi said. He was acting zealously, absolute glee bubbling into his expressions.

"She's going to kill you if we see her again. And when that happens, I'm going to stand by and watch as a tiny little girl who's almost as short as I am rips your face off of your skull," Tadao said. With that being said, the young blonde turned around and began to walk back into the village.

"Eviiilll!" Usabarashi yelled, jogging after the younger boy. He was laughing the entire way, taking his friends dark words lightly. The obvious personality differences between the two were startling, the younger the more serious, and the older the more joyful. It was only Sora's laidback attitude that kept them from arguing with each other all the time, sometimes they ganged up on her.

She didn't even mind that, she just didn't care about much of anything other than her ninja skills. Sora glanced at her sensei once before skipping off after her teammates, her brown hair fluttering behind her in the wind.

Gaara looked towards Sasuke once his genin were gone, nodding his head to convey a silent message. Sasuke responded with a subtle nod of his own before the Kazekage disappeared in a swirl of sand.

Sasuke ordered his team back to training, having had spotted what Naruto's genin were practicing on their own time. He wasn't going to let the dobe and his genin one up his genin.

Did Sasuke miss Konoha? Simply, yes. He missed it a lot, but he grew accustomed to being in Suna. Both places were his home, and Suna didn't have the painful memories that Konoha held for him. But maybe if that Dobe ever became Hokage he could go back for a visit…

* * *

"You should have let me kill him," Mitsuki grumbled, walking a small distance away from her team (and the giant talking flightless birds). She could feel both her teammates stares on her as she walked, but she paid them no mind. She just wanted to be done with this mission.

"Miki-chan, we don't kill our ally's genin. That's a no-no," Naruto teased. The blonde Jounin seemed to be forever amused by the fact that Mitsuki had been attacked with a kiss. He was snickering every so often, grinning mischievously at her when he believed she thought he didn't know she was looking at him.

"Whatever, next time I see him I'm going to wipe the floor with him," she grumbled, kicking at the sand. Naruto only continued to snicker at the short girl.

Obito stared up at the sun, a small frown etched on his otherwise blank face. He wondered when they would get back, he had engagements to attend to in the coming weekend. His father was counting on him to attend this with him as a family.

"Naruto-sensei, when will we be getting back?" he asked curiously. To Obito's surprise, it gained the attention of a black eyed kunoichi. She stared unwaveringly at their Jounin sensei, awaiting his answer.

"We should be back by Friday," Naruto said, smiling. Obito nodded once, perfect. He'd have enough time to spend a couple hours with his mom then, maybe even his dad.

In his peripheral, Obito noticed that Mitsuki wore a disgruntled face, like she'd been told she'd have to spend a day with Tatsuki.

The group continued to walk back towards Konoha, taking their time because of the ostriches.

"Say, Condor-san, who taught you how to talk anyway? It can't all be self-taught and picked up," Haru asked the male ostrich. He was legitimately curious about it, wondering if he could teach some of his father's birds to talk.

Amazingly enough, the old ostrich began to laugh. Well, if it was a laugh, more like a weird cackle sounding thing. It was pretty creepy.

"If only, but if that were the case, I'd be saying "Dattebayo" after everything like Naruto," the ostrich croaked.

"OI! I don't do that! Anymore!" Naruto yelled.

"Didn't you say it back in Suna?" Obito asked slyly. Naruto glared at the silver haired genin.

"Never mind that, Condor, who taught you how to talk?" Naruto asked, turning the focus back to the giant talking ostrich. Man, and he wanted to appear cool to his genin…

Mitsuki shook her head at her Sensei. _'What an idiot…' _she thought, keeping her eyes straight forward. The sooner they got the ostriches back to their home, the better. Stupid birds. Stupid Hokage, giving them a stupid mission with the stupid birds.

"It was a ninja, a defected one from Kiri. He is a friend of the animals. He's been releasing animals who don't want to be trapped for years now. He taught me to speak and kept releasing me," Condor explained, a happy gleam in his eye. It seemed he was fond of this particular human…

"A defected Kiri Nin? Don't they track down the lost ones and kill them to make sure that the Kirigakure secrets aren't revealed to other villages?" Haru asked.

"He mentioned that, but he has been there since your own sensei was merely a genin. I fear not for his safety," the bird said.

"He's really nice, he gave my father his name," squawked the female ostrich.

"A Kiri Nin would give an Ostrich the name 'Condor'…" Mitsuki said in a snarky tone. But when the Ostrich reached its long neck to try to attack her, Mitsuki quickly hastened her steps. Maybe taunting the giant birds was a bad idea, but she was sarcastic by nature…

"Miki-chan, don't taunt the birds, they can get violent." Mitsuki scowled at her sensei's teasing chide, her black eyes turning into a hostile glare. Her sensei only laughed in amusement.

Obito watched his comrades exchange the entire thing with blank eyes, absorbing the information he saw. His frown returned to his face, something was up with his female comrade. Was she scared of the birds?

Obito racked his brain to find an instance otherwise, but he couldn't remember a single incidence where Mitsuki had touched the birds. The only time that may have happened was when he and Haru had passed out, both had been standing near birds.

Obito surreptitiously created a distance between him and Condor and Mitsuki, walking at the back of their group. Best not to make Mitsuki's weakness known to everyone…

* * *

They'd been in the land of fire for a good solid hour, but it was growing dark quickly and they wouldn't be able to reach the animal preserve that night. So Naruto had the idea to stop at a nearby hot springs, and placed the ostriches in a roomy shack, it was large enough for more than two, and would keep them from running away. Just in case.

Haru was thrilled with the idea of a Hot Springs, he'd never been to one before. It was exciting, an open air bath under the night sky?

"Sensei, have you been here before?" Mitsuki asked, standing back behind her teammates, staring at the building. It seemed old to her, run down, like no one had been there in a long time… Were those cobwebs in that window?

"Miki-chan, the place just doesn't get much business anymore. This place is good, no worries, believe it!" Naruto grinned back at her. Mitsuki blinked once before her sensei shoved open the door, calling out loudly.

"HELLO!"

Shortly after the Jounin released his yell, a small crash was heard.

"Idiot-Sensei…" Mitsuki said, voicing the two other's thoughts. Naruto, embarrassed, refused to look at his genin, instead stepping inside the inn.

"You all right in there?" he asked, somewhat quieter. His genin followed him inside, careful in case something leaped out at them. Where had their sensei brought them?

* * *

**Sorry I didn't post last Saturday. I should have. But I was at this thing for Camp, and I was gone until later Sunday. If I'd posted on Sunday, it would have given me a less amount of time for the next chapter, and then I would have felt rushed and would have fizzled out quickly... **

**This chapter is really a set up for the next couple of chapters, so not much action. And I feel I've been focusing too much on Mitsuki lately, so I'm going to start off chapter Eleven with Haru. Excitement. :D**

**Now for Reviews! Yay! My favorite part!**

**Bookworm73: You are great my dear. And yes, that is exactly what I was going for. Sasuke and Naruto can't change their relationship, they're besties!**

**Loyal fan: You're amazing! Thank you for reading! And yes, Obito is cute... but I'm a secret Michiru fan... Ssh XD**

**Ninja Trio's Best: Ginger's Unite! We do have souls! They're just on FIRE! And I love you my dear!**

**Doiti Etok: I'm glad I could surprise you! Sasuke's awesome, it'd be a shame to keep him evil or dead. He has a conscience somewhere inside him, and I explained my reasonings last chapter. :P I'm glad I could answer your question! You probably phrased it correctly, I'm just easily confused... You are special, and you've got the longest comment again! :D It was Sasuke in the last chapter art, but you get points for being the only one to guess! Here is your ramen, enjoy it! The Schedule will be in order... Now! I hope to see your lovely reviews again! :)**

**hypnotic flames: I hasn't seen you since chapter eight! I missed you! Yay, I feel my chapter was a success now.**

**So, that's it. I'll see you next Saturday Lovebuckets! Until then... I dunno. Peace out!  
**


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